Second Sphere

Enclave => Online Roleplaying => Topic started by: Narric on February 20, 2017, 05:13:37 PM

Title: Lost in Exploration [RP]
Post by: Narric on February 20, 2017, 05:13:37 PM
++++Trans Galactic Library++++
+++Opening anecdotal record of Human FTL mission+++
++Processing++
++Displaying++

Earth has passed through a dark age of regression and scientific stagnation brought about by political and corporate war over decades. Various nations and countries have risen and fallen, and its climate wrecked. In this new age brought about by rebelion and the usurption of callous dictators, new world powers have arisen to take control of what is left.

The Blue Union controls a majority of what was once Europe, Russia, Asia, and the Africas, while the Great Republic of the West (GRW) controls all of of the western continent from alaska down to Brazil. Scientific Utopian colonies defend and maintain many regions in the sourthern hemisphere and the luna colonies (SHLC), and owe no alliegence to the Union, or the GRW. Tension caused by differing ideaologies between the Union and the GRW mean earth finds itself in an uneasy peace.

The Blue Union are the ones funding the mission, and hope that in being the first to expand humanity beyond its terrestrial homeworld, it can spark renewal of its peoples, but the GRW have other plans in motion.





--Location: BU secret launch base, geographic location classified--

"Alright Commander, you have your briefing." A stout military officer sat behind an impressive mahogany desk, a synthesised view of what used to be Tahiti could be seen through venetian blinds behind him. "It is about lunchtime, so they will likely be in the mess hall. May be a good time to get the mission team together and get acquainted. Use their pagers to gather them if need be. You are dismissed. I'll page you if there are any developments."

"Sir!" Jonathan Bradford, now Commander of his first mission, stood from his chair and saluted the officer and turned sharply to the office door. He sighed out and relaxed his shoulders after closing the door and began walking the concrete corridors towards the mess hall a two levels below.




Father Micheal Quinlan was seated on the front pew of the interfaith chapel one level up from the mess hall. listening to the interfaith minister at the lectern as she read aloud her semi-inspiring piece about unity and diversity.




Dr Pieter Hale had found himself in the company of the Security officer Jason Terwich, both taking keen interest in ensuring the vessel was suitable stocked with medical supplies and armoury respectively. The vessel's starboard underside could be seen, with it tilted upwards for the launch ramp, special micro-gravity rails and cranes loading the supplies the two men had either requested or had signed off for.




Dr August Murray Had just collected his lunch in the mess hall, and was deciding where best to sit down.

Elicia was sitting with three laptops in front of her, a selection of files being synchronised between them. She idly swilled around a cold cup of tea with one hand, staring at a screen but looking into the blind eternities. Noah Miller was eating his own lunch in solitude, a small collection of technical documents semi-organised in front of him.
Title: Re: Lost in Exploration [RP]
Post by: Mabbz on February 21, 2017, 05:53:13 PM
Once he had finished counting the number of crates and compared them to his requisition requests, Jason pulled out a small scanning device and began checking them all for hidden devices or triggers that might detonate his explosive stockpiles. Finding nothing, he wandered over to the other man in the hangar and began scanning his cargo.

"You're to be the ships doctor, correct? Doctor Hale?" Jason asked, his practiced eye searching for any weapons on the medic. He had read the profiles of all his crewmates, as well as doing the mandatory background checks. While nothing had seemed out of place for the doctor, Jason had still been wary of him due to his origins outside of the BU.
Title: Re: Lost in Exploration [RP]
Post by: Scout Sergeant Mkoll on February 21, 2017, 06:58:35 PM
On his way down to the mess hall Bradford stopped by the chapel, he was not a religious man, but given the scale of the undertaking and his first command, it couldn't hurt to as from a little help from on high in case there was any to be had.

As he sat in quiet contemplation for a few moments he recognised Father Murray who had been allocated to the mission. He briefly considered introducing himself, but thought better of it as the minister was still mid-speech. His prayers uttered, such as they were, he took his leave as quietly as possible and made his way to the mess hall where he collected a simple meal and took a seat with the best view of the ship.

As he was now a full commander he knew he was entitled to better fare than the men, but he'd been eating simple meals for a while to prepare for the mission and knew that a fancy meal would only make the in-flight food seem almost inedible by comparison.

While he ate Bradford considered what he'd say to his crew before departure, he hadn't written anything as he wanted confirmation first. Still, no rush. He decided to let the crew get prepped and say goodbye to their families before any big speeches.
Title: Re: Lost in Exploration [RP]
Post by: Cammerz on February 21, 2017, 07:22:49 PM
As inter-faith sermons went this wasn't a bad one and Father Michael enjoyed those rare occasions where he got to sit on the other side of the lectern. At least he'd get some fresh material for the Sunday Masses back in his parish when all this was over.

The sound of movement behind him drew his attention from the minister and he spotted a man who looked very much like his new mission commander leaving through the door at the back. He supposed it was probably about time to get the measure of the man and, with a silent nod to the minister, he followed Bradford down to the mess.

A quick scan of the hall and Father Michael spotted the man gazing towards the experimental ship. He'd been aboard briefly to get his bearings around the controls (everything seemed to be in the right place compared to his previous, admittedly smaller ships). He wandered over and took a seat opposite Bradford.

"Are you 'right there?"
Title: Re: Lost in Exploration [RP]
Post by: Scout Sergeant Mkoll on February 21, 2017, 07:30:44 PM
The Father taking his seat broke Bradford from his musings "Oh, yes, sorry. I'm fine Father. Just admiring the ship and wondering what lies in store for our trip. Should be quite the adventure Have you had a chance to look around the 'Hammond' at all?" he asked.


OOC: I can't see a name for the ship anywhere, if there's one already designated feel free to let me know.
Title: Re: Lost in Exploration [RP]
Post by: Cammerz on February 21, 2017, 07:38:16 PM
"I've had a look around the bridge, the set-up's very similar to everything else I've flown but all the science lads here still insist on the full lecture, it's as if they were wary about someone flying their expensive new toy."
Title: Re: Lost in Exploration [RP]
Post by: Scout Sergeant Mkoll on February 21, 2017, 07:48:26 PM
"It's their pride and joy, I'm sure if they could they'd keep if safe and sound in a warehouse somewhere insisting it's all 'hypothetical' just so they can stare at it all day" Bradford laughed. "Still, if it gets us where we need to go, they can fuss over it all they like. How was the service?"
Title: Re: Lost in Exploration [RP]
Post by: Cammerz on February 21, 2017, 08:36:51 PM
"It wasn't too bad actually, it's nice to hear it from the other side for a change. It has occured to me that I'll need to knock the old communion on the head for a while, probably better for everyone if the blood of Christ stays earthbound while we go for our little trip round the stars."
Title: Re: Lost in Exploration [RP]
Post by: Scout Sergeant Mkoll on February 21, 2017, 09:19:24 PM
"Given the diversity of the crew you may find a couple for your flock yet" Bradshaw replied.

"Ah, I can't wait to get back up there" he sighed as he gazed at the ship. "No better feeling than flying on a mission, either in atmo or among the stars. But then, you already know that, don't you?"
Title: Re: Lost in Exploration [RP]
Post by: Cammerz on February 21, 2017, 09:34:27 PM
"You've done your research then, it's true though, even a routine trip to the moon and back gets the heart racing like nothing on Earth. You can take a man out of space but God help me there'll always be that calling to go back."

"As for the crew," Father Michael's gaze swept the mess hall, "I've not had the pleasure of meeting the others just yet, I presume we've got a few dotted around in here".
Title: Re: Lost in Exploration [RP]
Post by: Scout Sergeant Mkoll on February 21, 2017, 09:53:16 PM
"What kind of commander would I be if I didn't know my crew, at least on paper?" Bradford smiled. "Umm..just one in here at the minute" he added, looking around the room. "The tall blonde man in the labcoat, that's Dr Murray, our FTL specialist. How he stays in shape I don't know, from what I can gather with the amount he knows it seems like he reads 12 hours a day."
Title: Re: Lost in Exploration [RP]
Post by: Wargamer on February 21, 2017, 10:21:39 PM
The ship was impressive, but Pieter was far more interested in his paperwork. He was stood by a selection of medical crates, many of which bore large, stark warning stickers such as "DO NOT OPEN OUTSIDE OF SEALED ENVIRONMENTS!" or "DISPOSE OF VIA INCINERATION!" This was actually quite routine, as he had often had to inform those unfamiliar with medical technology; there was a certain paranoia among the medical fields that some careless practitioner might cause an outbreak on a ship or station. Not all the rules had to be followed, though you never told anyone else that.

So engrossed was he in his itinerary that he almost didn't register the security officer. "Hmm? What? Oh, yes. Doctor Hale at your service," he said with a warm grin. "I was just reviewing the medical manifest. I must say, our requisitions staff have done their bast to cover all the bases. If I didn't know better, I'd think we were being shipped off to some crisis zone! Once everything is on board and in place, I should be able to handle any medical emergency, large or small. Let's hope it's all small though, eh?"
Title: Re: Lost in Exploration [RP]
Post by: Humanatee on February 22, 2017, 03:40:50 AM
After finding a quieter corner of the mess to sit, Gus continued listening to the audio lecture he'd been reviewing since the morning. Being a specialist on xenobiology and exo-planetary environments, rather than quantum physics, Dr. Murray hadn't been the first pick for science lead on the mission. The esteemed scientist and inventor of the FTL drive was born with severely crippling bone deficiencies and simply couldn't make the mission. Fortunately Dr. August Murray had dabbled in the science himself and was an incredibly quick learner.

He was piping in the data stream directly to his tech-glasses and earbuds, only pulling his attention from the immersive experience to take a bite of his meal. The science behind the device was incredible, but highly theoretical. While he knew that there had been successful trials in a laboratory environment, Gus had always been a practically minded man. The more he had learned about the device and the science behind it, the more he realized that once underway, there would be very little he or his chief engineer could do should anything go wrong.

That is of course the risk you run to become a modern pioneer.
Title: Re: Lost in Exploration [RP]
Post by: Waaaghpower on February 22, 2017, 06:52:48 AM
Noah read the documents in front of him slowly, turning one page to the next in a methodical fashion. He had a sandwich in his other hand, nothing particularly fancy, and he chewed each bite absently as he read each document.
It wasn't that the information was new or critical, it was the finalized ship schematics that he'd had a copy of for months, but he wanted to be certain that there were no critical oversights that he'd made, and so he read each page with as much care as if he'd never seen the document before. The job had to be done, after all, so he was going to do it right, no matter what it took.
Title: Re: Lost in Exploration [RP]
Post by: Mabbz on February 28, 2017, 04:41:09 PM
Jason gave a tight-lipped smile to the doctor as he finished his scans. "Indeed. Well, if all your equipment is in order, it might be a good idea to get it loaded and your medical bay set up. I'm going to be setting up the security section next door; for your own safety, do not try to open my door without my permission."

Walking up a ramp into the ship's loading area, Jason flashed his ID and found a large crate on a trolley. After a quick scan (which revealed a high explosive content), he pushed the crate to the security section, locked the doors and began unloading his equipment and planning how best to secure the perimeter.
Title: Re: Lost in Exploration [RP]
Post by: Narric on March 08, 2017, 11:52:54 PM
Elicia returned to the real world, and realised her Mission Commander and the Pilot had seated themselves at the other end of the mess hall table from her. She closed down her laptops, pilling everything together and stood up, straightening her white jacket. leaving the the pile of documents and tech, knowing that no one is the base would would possibly think to pinch any of it, She made her way over to the Commander, and gave him an unpracticed salute.

"Sir, its a pleasure to finally meet you." She spoke flatly, a twinge of nerves in her voice. "I'll be your Astrometrics Officer on the mission." Turning to Father Micheal, she almost gave another salute, but recovered it into a bow with her hands together. "Father Micheal, I believe this is the first time you and I have met as well?"

Bradford stood and returned a polished military salute back to Elicia. "At ease, we're not on mission yet. Join us would you?" He motions a seat beside himself, and waited for her to sit before reseating himself.

"No need for the bow, my child" Father Micheal chuckled softly. "We'll be working together, and formalities can waste time."

"Indeed, which makes me think we best not waste time and get the crew together for formal introductions..." With that, the commander pulls out is pager. After a breif write-up, the trio were surprised to hear the notification tone in themess hall, and turned to see the chief engineer a few tables over, crumpling up a couple papers, and idly tossing them into a waste dispenser on his way over to the table. He gives the commander a salute.

"Sorry, I didn't see you all here." He greets Elicia and Jonathan, and seems to stammer a little as he greets Father Micheal.

"Its alright, Miller." Micheal chuckled again, not expecting two members of the crew to be so careful around those with religious backing.

The approach of another, dressed in a white lab coat, distracted the quartet as Dr Murray waved to the tables' occupiers. Seeing the commander, he saluted with rusty military precision.
"At ease." Bradford responded.
"Dr August Murray at your service." He spoke with a smile.




A Standardised ditty rang out within the vessels' hanger, as Hale and Terwich's pagers informed them the mission commander needed them in the base mess hall.

The Doctor finalised his clipbaord, and secured it within his medical bay, meeting the security officer as they both disembarked the ship. Terwich looked a bit iritated, and was mumbling about how his precautions weren't fully ready.

"Its just introductions. Maybe it will be over quickly, and we can return to our own tasks before take off?" Dr Hale calmingly spoke to Terwich.

"Just don't try entering security unless I give an all clear?" Terwich spoke feeling his nerves ease somewhat from an understanding voice. "So far as I know no one else will be embarking the ship before we leave, so it should be alright."




Once Dr Hale and Officer Terwich arrived and were seated, Bradford stood at the head of the table, and cleared his throat to ensure everybody gave their attention to him, (un)fortunately cutting short a pseudo lecture from Elicia about how language has evolved across the ages on Earth.
"Alright, lets do some basic team building to get to know one another. We'll start with our dedicated Astrometrics officer, and everyone can follow suit." With a nod from Bradford, Elicia stood up and cleared her throat.

"My name is Elicia von Drakoon. I'm a skilled linguist and cartography enthusiast. I'll be the one working towards us avoid any stars, planetary debree or spatial anomalies during our flight on mission. Please don't ask about my family name, its a long, old and boring story to tell for most people."

With that she sat down, and the next person rose to make their introductions.
Title: Re: Lost in Exploration [RP]
Post by: Cammerz on March 09, 2017, 12:15:30 AM
 "Well it's a pleasure to meet you all, my name is Father Michael Quinlan, I'll be steering us on our merry jaunt across the universe. Just know that you're in safe hands, I've been flying for a good long while now and have yet to crash into anything.

Obviously I'm also a priest so if anyone wants to have a chat about anything during our voyage then stop by any time, it doesn't have to be a religious thing, I'm not here to shove Our Lord down anyone's throats".
Title: Re: Lost in Exploration [RP]
Post by: Mabbz on March 09, 2017, 09:43:10 AM
"My name is Jason Terwich, and I'm the chief of security for this mission. I'm also the only one here with explosives training, so bear that in mind before trying to access restricted sections of the ship." He glanced over at Bradford. "Speaking of which, I was in the middle of securing the security office. May I be excused to finish that? I've already read everyone personnel profiles."
Title: Re: Lost in Exploration [RP]
Post by: Wargamer on March 10, 2017, 12:20:37 AM
"Hello everyone, I am Dr Hale. I'll be taking care of your medical needs for the journey. I know some people are not keen on us Lunar boys, but rest assured I have no ulterior motives. I'm here for the furthering of medical knowledge and to keep you all fit as a fiddle."
Title: Re: Lost in Exploration [RP]
Post by: Waaaghpower on March 12, 2017, 07:47:17 AM
Noah gave Dr Hale a sidelong glance, then raised his hand, waited to be acknowledged, and then stood to speak. "Hello, my comrades in exploration. I am Noah Miller, your chief engineer. I am very much looking forward to this mission, and hope that by my efforts, humanity will be served and our cause furthered."
Once he was done he sat back down, resting his hands in his lap and waiting for everyone else to speak.
Title: Re: Lost in Exploration [RP]
Post by: Humanatee on March 14, 2017, 06:41:45 AM
After waiting for the others to speak, Gus pulled himself out of his chair and saluted the crowd gathered beside him. "Hello everyone, I'm your science lead for the mission. My name is Dr. August Murray. If you have any questions about the nature of the technology we are testing, feel free to ask me any time." He made no effort to hide his southern accent to the team before him, but he decided to keep his introduction as short as possible.
Title: Re: Lost in Exploration [RP]
Post by: Scout Sergeant Mkoll on March 14, 2017, 10:01:03 PM
"Well, we will be couped up together for a while and a person can be quite different to a file which is the reason for this meeting. However, your dedication to your role was a deciding factor in my shortlisting you for this role so while I'd prefer you stay I won't order you to do so if you have things to be getting on with." Bradford replied.

"As you've no doubt figured out, my name is Jonathan Bradford and I'm the commander for this mission. I know all of you have experience with space travel in some capacity so you've an idea of what to expect, but we will all come across things that are new to us over the course of this mission so if there's anything you need, just ask and we'll do what we can. Sorry to say, that doesn't stretch to include lottery wins, I've already tried" he added with an apologetic grin.
Title: Re: Lost in Exploration [RP]
Post by: Mabbz on March 20, 2017, 07:55:22 PM
Jason had to concede the point, and remained in place to hear the rest of the introductions. As he listened he mentally gave each a score out of ten corresponding to the probablility of them being a threat to the mission (1 being completely safe, 10 being confirmed traitor). None scored below 5, although to be fair only a handful of people on the planet had ever rated a 2 (no-one, not even Jason himself, had ever scored 1).

Once everyone was done, Jason excused himself and headed back to the ship to finish his work. Things to do, traps to set.
Title: Re: Lost in Exploration [RP]
Post by: Waaaghpower on March 20, 2017, 08:01:09 PM
Watching him go, Noah frowned, speaking once he had left the room. "Where is he off to in such a hurry? Surely the security office can wait a few moment, so that we can get to know each other better than a cursory introduction. He can't think that security can be properly enforced without knowing the people he is meant to secure, can he?"

Pausing, he added to Jonathan, "Not to seem paranoid, but how much control does he have on the ship? I am not certain I am comfortable with someone analyzing my every move from the shadows if they're not willing to have a conversation to my face."
Title: Re: Lost in Exploration [RP]
Post by: Cammerz on March 20, 2017, 10:45:51 PM
"He does seem to be a troubled young man, I'll see if I can talk to him when we're underway, perhaps he'll settle when we're the only people around him for a few million miles in any direction".
Father Michael smiled at the remaining crew around him,
"So are we all looking forward to venturing further than anyone has gone before?"
Title: Re: Lost in Exploration [RP]
Post by: Scout Sergeant Mkoll on March 21, 2017, 11:19:42 PM
"I wouldn't worry too much, he just takes his job seriously, that's all." Jonathan replied reassuringly. "He's meticulous and knows we're departing soon so he wants to check things over. Under the circumstances I can't say I blame him, I went over everything myself more than normal just to make absolutely sure."
Title: Re: Lost in Exploration [RP]
Post by: Narric on March 22, 2017, 11:12:11 PM
"With three days before the launch.." Elicia mused aloud elbows on the table resting her chin on her palm. "Anyone else feel they're rushing a little?" Jonathan's pager lit up and jingled, distracting him from the conversation.

"Well, it uh, doesn't hurt to be careful." Noah shifted in his seat to direct himself to Elicia. "What with the GRW becoming decreasingly silent. If being an engineer taught me anything transferable, its that when something is constantly making noise, the worst fear is when it goes quiet."

"Same can be said about a pulse.." Dr Hale added. Most nodded in response to the two men.

"They can be silent all they want." August shuffled. "Once we're on mission, they will be little concern to us."

"We're gonna have to cut this short." Jonathan suddenly reappeared at the end of the table, a stern look of a man holding grave news. " Collect anything you need quickly, we're launching now!" Punctuating his words, the mess hall lights shut off, plunging the space in darkness, replaced by emergency lights and a droning alarm. Ceiling fixed speakers buzzed into life.

"ALL HANDS, RED ALERT, THIS IS NOT A DRILL!" A husky but female voice barked down the speaker system. "SIGMA COLONY HAS BEEN DESTROYED BY AN ICBM ORIGINATING FROM THE GRW. RED ALERT, THIS IS NOT A DRILL. ALL HANDS TO STATIONS. PRIORITY ONE IS MISSION ESCALATION!" The speakers went silent but for a series of clicks, and the message repeated anew, with a metallic ton of a recording.

"You heard the lady, mission escalation! Our timetable has been pulled up!" Jonathan shouted above the repeating announcement. The whole team was on their feet in moments, and following him to the hanger bay falling in line in a military run. Elicia barely managing to hold the three laptops to her chest.

As they entered the hanger, struts and beams moved to connect to structural points on the craft, as part of the accelerator that would launch it from the subterranean base. A series of small containers, each labeled for the crew members, was being hastily loaded into the forward cargo bay by automated armatures.

The crew embarked on the vessel, and a small number of technicians were hightailing off, each saluting the crew as best they could. Jason was standing at the final door onto the ship eyeing everyone who disembarked, but fell in line with the crew once they came level with him. While all the panels inside where in there correct places, some basic tools and note pages were left where they lay. Everyone followed the Commander to the bridge, the pilot taking the helm, with the rest of the crew locking themselves into launch chairs.
Title: Re: Lost in Exploration [RP]
Post by: Cammerz on March 23, 2017, 06:34:20 PM
Father Michael immediately fell back to his old military protocol, his radio tuned to ground control as he began to initiate the lift-off sequence.

"You'll be wanting to strap yourselves in now, we'll be on a hard burn out of atmo and pushing some fierce Gs, and that's before we rip up the old physics textbook" before he turned his attention back to the voices in his ear as the final rushed pre-launch checks were completed.
Title: Re: Lost in Exploration [RP]
Post by: Mabbz on March 24, 2017, 09:21:38 PM
Jason quickly strapped himself in, and pulled out a large tablet computer. He hadn't had a chance to ensure it would interface with the ships comms yet, but as he didn't have an important role to play in a spacecraft launch, he began trying to remotely connect to his general security network to try and find out what the situation was. If that didn't work he hoped he'd at least be able to access his shipboard security systems to view the internal sensors. Given the speed they had had to prepare for departure, he was concerned that someone might still be onboard.
Title: Re: Lost in Exploration [RP]
Post by: Waaaghpower on March 29, 2017, 10:00:58 PM
As they scrambled to the hangar, Noah looked over his shoulder. "I need my bag, I-"

"No time!" Jonathan interrupted.

Noah lingered for a second, looking back towards their quarters for a moment, then shaking his head and turning to follow the group to the launch vessel.

There was nothing for him to do during launch. Even if it was possible to move about the ship while they were facing G forces far beyond what the human body was designed to work against, any technical failure while they were ascending would doom the ship before he would be able to fix it. All he could do was strap into his seat, and then dig his fingers into the arm rests and shut his eyes, whispering something inaudible and hoping that they weren't all about to be blown to oblivion by a faulty engine or an attacking missile.
Title: Re: Lost in Exploration [RP]
Post by: Narric on March 29, 2017, 11:33:54 PM
Punching in final activation codes,Father Michael was almost in a trance as he worked the console before him in rapid execution. The flight control tower had trouble keeping in up, but soon took to jumping five steps in the process to match Michael's speed. With a series of clunks, the ship was detached from various fueling robs and scaffolding, now rest on the angle launch rails. At the edge of the starboard side of the bridge window, the recessed sections of the hanger were being closed off by blast shields.

"FTL Mission you are clear for launch." Was the signal that preparations were over. "Be advised, you will be escorted until you have reached the Mesosphere, from that point on your on your own. May fortune be on your side."

"God speed to you as well crewman." Father Michael responded. A steady build up of vibrations, evolving into a rumble, and then a thunderous uproar signified the engines booming into life. Up ahead in the launch tunnel blast doors and rails were locking into place. The thunder became sharp, and plumes of exhaust began to billow over the vessel, and the Hammond lurched into motion. The launcher worked similarly to a rail gun, the trolley being propelled faster and faster by magnets along the rail, aided by the powerful engines. The crew could feel the G-forces pressing them into their seats.

The tunnel lasted three minutes, filling the bridge with sunlight and shadow, and a horizon burning black into the dawn sky. The sky was filled with anti-aircraft explosions, and dog fighting jets. A group of GRW aircraft arched wide and came about on an interception course for the Hammond, but were quickly dispatched by the joining escort jets of the BU.

Commander Jonathan pulled himself through the G-forces, and activated the Mass Driver turrets, synchronizing with the escort ID signatures to ensure no friendly fire. A raid of GRW fighters arced towards the vessel from the port side, turrets slamming each jet with two or three shots along automatically calculated trajectories. As the Flight controller said, the escort began to disengage their positions as they transitioned through the Mesosphere. The sky had given way to a field of stars crisper and brighter than they could be seen on the surface, the moon rising in the east.

And with a bright flash of crimson, it was shattered. Within minutes debris hurtled across the Hammond's flight path, causing Father Michael to make a drastic adjustment to their angle of climb. It was in this moment that Jonathan saw a vast structure rising over the eastern horizon. Subtlety was not a common trait among the GRW, and the structure emphasised this tenfold. Adorning what could only have been the weapon that just obliterated the moon was a red and black skull disfigured into a vicious smile.

The g-forces were subsiding as everyone within the vessel was now moving at relatively the same speed, allowing the commander to stand and turn to the rest of the crew.

"We're going to have to activate the FTL drive sooner than planned. there is no way we'll get to the outer Heliosheath with that thing designed to chase us down or blow us out of the sky. Miss Drakoon, we need you in Astronav to set our target, Mr Miller, get to Engineering and make sure nothing overloads and blows us all up. Everyone else may stand down but be ready for any situation to arise." Commander Jonathan ordered clearly to the crew.

Elicia pryed herself from her seat, not waiting for further confirmation of her role, walking straight to Astronav.
Title: Re: Lost in Exploration [RP]
Post by: Cammerz on March 30, 2017, 05:13:53 PM
"Not to contradict you there but if something does occur then it might be best if you were all strapped in for the forseeable, whatever that thing is I'm all set to react if it so much as looks at us funny", Father Michael did not take his eyes off the enormous weapon in front of them, nor did he remove his hands from the controls as the launch-induced adrenaline pumped through him.

He whispered a quiet prayer whilst glancing to and fro, looking for some form of sizable cover behind which they could hide or rapidly change course in order to confuse their potential attackers.
Title: Re: Lost in Exploration [RP]
Post by: Scout Sergeant Mkoll on April 01, 2017, 01:41:39 PM
"Duly noted, but if we're getting out of here we're going to need the FTL. We don't know what that thing is capable of or if it brought friends." Jonathan replied.

"Ok, let's move people!" he yelled "I don't know what they think they're going to achieve but if they think they're stopping us they're very much mistaken!" before turning back to his seat and scanning the screen for any other vessels.
Title: Re: Lost in Exploration [RP]
Post by: Wargamer on April 03, 2017, 07:27:20 AM
"Not that I'm objecting to fleeing hostile fighters by any means," the doctor chimed in, "but I feel obliged to question if it is at all safe to use the hyper drive this close to a planet. Are we absolutely sure we know what we're doing?"
Title: Re: Lost in Exploration [RP]
Post by: Humanatee on April 03, 2017, 08:36:36 AM
Murray had largely been ignoring the conversation after the moon had been struck. His attention has been focused on calibrating the drive from his station to the side of the crew. He pulled himself from the task to respond to the doctors comment.

"Although this technology is largely theoretical, at this distance the only thing we could harm is the remains of the moon. I suppose at this rate we have a better survival chance against the jump than the debris and whatever the hell made them." He clicked in a few more commands as he was talking, then stared at the screen for a moment.

He wasn't to proud to admit that he couldn't be sure he'd keyed everything in properly. Inwardly he was too distressed by the madness of what his own people had just done to themselves.

"Either way, I'm ready to go on my end. I suggest if we are to make this leap, we do it quickly."
Title: Re: Lost in Exploration [RP]
Post by: Mabbz on April 03, 2017, 10:32:31 AM
Jason sat in mute, slack-jawed shock at what he had just seen. The words "they blew up the moon" just kept echoing through his head. Eventually another thought did manage to catch his attention.

"How the hell didn't we see this coming?"

A moon destroying WMD should not have gone unnoticed. There was no way their intelligence network could have missed this. Unless someone was covering it up...

Pulling out his datapad, Jason began furously scanning through every last bit of data he could fingers, trying to identify the traitors. After a few minutes he stopped, recognising the futility of the task. Mentally recategorising everyone on earth as a probable traitor, he began a far more urgent and doable task; trying to identify any traitors on board the Hammond. He began listening carefully to their conversations, searching for any clues to their allegiance.
Title: Re: Lost in Exploration [RP]
Post by: Scout Sergeant Mkoll on April 03, 2017, 10:22:40 PM
"Well doc, this crew's the best there is. If we don't know what we're doing then anybody else is truly lost. I'll happily listen to any other ideas, but I'm struggling to think of any. Our weapons won't even tickle a monstrosity like that." Jonathan replied.
Title: Re: Lost in Exploration [RP]
Post by: Narric on April 03, 2017, 11:44:08 PM
The WMD of the GRW vessel had blasted at least a quarter of the Moon's mass, filling the empty divide between it and earth with debris. Father micheal found what he was looking for, and moved the Hammond to fly alongside a massive chunk of moon crust the size of ireland, keeping the chunk between the ship and the GRW.

On Murray's monitor, a notification popped up, declaring final setup of the FTL drive required removal of Launch safeguards.
"I need to get to engineering, otherwise the FTL drive is useless to us." He spoke, getting up from his seat once the ship had moved to the moon chunk. "Just some launch safeguards to be disengaged and we'll be ready to bolt it from here."

A speaker crackled on the bridge.
"That debris you have us using as a shield is flying in the wrong direction, Micheal" Elicia's voice buzzed through. "I'm sending a series of coordinates of debris that can be our shield, but will get us flying in the right direction."

Jason felt a pang of paranoia setting in, but managed to not give in. Earth was no longer his priority to keep secure, the vessel and its crew were.
Title: Re: Lost in Exploration [RP]
Post by: Cammerz on April 04, 2017, 05:50:38 PM
"I'll be honest with you Elicia I was mainly trying to keep us out of sight, when we're ready to make our jump I'll be wanting a little less debris in general, if we hit anything at all at that speed then the next thing we'll see is Saint Peter saying 'ah bad luck lads'."

Father Michael began to mentally plot the course Elicia had sent him, trying to work out the best way to achieve the course change while still keeping out of sight and aiming to exit the debris field at just about the perfect time and location.

"Thinking about it", he said to nobody in particular, "there might be some sort of retaliation coming skywards at some point, it might be best if we weren't caught up in all that. Someone keep an eye on planet Earth will you?"
Title: Re: Lost in Exploration [RP]
Post by: Mabbz on April 04, 2017, 08:15:47 PM
"On it," replied Jason. He knew he wouldn't be able to keep tabs on all the crew effectively in the midst of this situation, so he decided that he may as well try to help Michael. Strapping himself into a seat next to a console, he began to scan for any hostile action from Earth, while simultaneously hoping that any onboard insurgents weren't suicidal.