Curiosity or Lack Thereof Yellow Alert
The ship orbiting and scanning the Proxima Centauri planet has only made brief contact with the fleet, and instead seems more preoccupied with scanning the planet. ESF Command considers establishing proper communications with the ship of utmost importance, as it is the first clear indication of intelligent, at least marginally human-like alien life in the galaxy. The ship is larger than any other FTL capable ESF ship, and scans have indicated it is more advanced in nearly every way, though whatever shielding the ship is using have made interior scans impossible. Peaceful communication is most obviously preferred, but ESF Command authorises any and all measures necessary to protect the fleet, should the aliens prove less than friendly.
After receiving word and related data of the alien vessel, the ESS Scarborough engages its FTL drive and immediately departs from Hektor Station after refueling and restocking. It travels to Alpha Centauri, placing itself in range of the alien starship and promptly establishes contact and active communications with the ESS Azrael and nearby Exosolar fleet vessels. For the duration of this operation, the Scarborough will support the Azrael to the extent of its abilities. If hostile intent is confirmed from the alien craft, the Scarborough will engage by returning fire until the vessel is disabled or the Scarborough must fall back.
Curiosity or Lack Thereof Yellow Alert
The ship orbiting and scanning the Proxima Centauri planet has only made brief contact with the fleet, and instead seems more preoccupied with scanning the planet. ESF Command considers establishing proper communications with the ship of utmost importance, as it is the first clear indication of intelligent, at least marginally human-like alien life in the galaxy. The ship is larger than any other FTL capable ESF ship, and scans have indicated it is more advanced in nearly every way, though whatever shielding the ship is using have made interior scans impossible. Peaceful communication is most obviously preferred, but ESF Command authorises any and all measures necessary to protect the fleet, should the aliens prove less than friendly.
The Hiawatha will mobilise to aid in this hopefully peaceful contact. Both our captain's and counsellor's diplomatic skills will be used, while our linguist will join with other ships in communications to help in translating the languages. Our surgeon will be on stand by in case any incidents require her surgery skills. If hostility is to occur our counsellor will attempt to keep channels open to the hostile aliens to diplomatic pacify the aliens while the ship does our best; we are not a combat orientated vessel and as such will focus on diplomatic resolves. If peace is the path then our captain and counsellor will both attempt to ratify a agreement of non-aggression with the extraterrestrials. Command roll will go towards diplomacy, science points set to pool with language translation.
The ESS Geneva will help the ESS Azrael and any other ships attempting to make contact with the alien vessel. Resources for this mission will be broken down like this:
-All points from Scanners and Comms and Command will be used to help establish communication with the vessel. Lt. Linguist Ronald Thompson will also lend his expertise here.
-2nd. Lt. Theologist Elise Watson and Ensign Counsellor Aaron Anderson will be held in reserve in case something relevant to their fields comes up.
-All points from Engineering will be used to glean any information on the alien vessel.
-Points in Weapons, Engines, Shields and Armour, Stealth, Security and Medical will be left in reserve in case something goes horribly wrong and if we end up in a firefight. Priority will be given to getting all allied ships safely out of the sector. If absolutely necessary, disable the enemy ship. Destroying the enemy ship should be avoided unless it is truly the only option.
Captain Zhan will try's to established contact with any ESS ships in the nearby sectors asking for assistance on this mission of peace.
"Under the Dome Yellow Alert"
We scan the dome and attempt various experimental theories of xeno communications on an open channel in the hopes that it will result in a response. We deploy a team of investigative explorers and diplomatic delegates supported by a security detail that will carefully approach what appears to be the dome's main entrance, from which they will commence their attempts at trying to establish contact with the dome's inhabitants. Should the inhabitants of the dome be hostile, the team will retreat back to the ESS Tiamat.
(4 point of command, 2 point of Engineering, 1 point of science with 2nd. Lt. "Android" Terra Prime and Ensign." Linguist" Michelle Horn to assist, 1 point Security. ESS Tiamat will use 2 points of scanners to assist the crew.)
We shall support the ESS Tiamat in attempting to contact the dome. We shall assist my deploying our Captain Leon, Linguist Robert, and Entertainer Michelle with a security detail.
Utilising 2 command points, 1 science, 1 security. ESS Tian Shan will use 2 scanners.
Orders are due.
I will still accept late orders up until the update is posted, unless you join a challenge I've already processed. @Nuka-sama@inthesomeday@SouthernKing
After much deliberation, the crew of the Bowman have elected to investigate the mysterious ring around the black hole.
We will remain in our position, a safe distance from the ring/event horizon. Then we will send an away shuttle, manned by a scientific team led by 2nd Lt. Katayama, into the ring to investigate. The shuttle will be equipped with a number of unmanned sensory probes. First, the shuttle will find an object that is large enough to land on and enter an orbit close to it.
The shuttle will then launch two probes, with the intent of getting readings of chemical composition, radiation types and strengths, gravitational field, electromagnetic field, and so forth. One will be launched inwards of the ring, and should give us information about the event horizon, as well as capturing an angle of the ring from the inside. The second will be launched towards the object, with the intent of discerning what the object precisely is and if it is safe to land there.
If this object is proven to be safe and stable enough to allow for the away shuttle to land and then escape, then the away shuttle will do so. The crew will use this opportunity to get some close-up readings, as well as collecting surface samples that we can take back to the Bowman and investigate in detail there.
We will complete the quest in the Utah sector, sending down probes to investigate the ground level. Monitor the planet from a distance and study what we can.
Captain Park of the ESS Leviathan has thoroughly chastised the ship's secondary pilot for overshooting the AC, and has reinstated the ship's primary pilot to full status, with the two having overcome their brief spat [that I have yet to find time to write, but which was a rollicking fun fest including a living portrait, a sandbox, and three Vienna sausages]. Reinvigorated despite this initial failure to be the crew to make first contact by the news of alien civilizations, the crew pushes on to the space 1 down and 1 to the left of their current location. They leave the naming of the system to another willing crew.
The ESS Alamo continued to survey the Torus A6 sector, having much more success than last month. A number of the planetoids were found to have significant deposits of valuable material deposits, with one particular asteroid catching ESF Command’s eye. The tantalum-rich asteroid is so packed full of the element that there is even some speculation that it may be of artificial origin.
Get Your Rocks Off Blue Alert
A tantalum-rich asteroid has caught the eye of ESF Command. The quantity of the element present has drawn some speculation that the asteroid may even be of artificial origin. An ESF construction ship is ready to head warp to Torus A6 to begin constructing a scientific and mining station on the asteroid, but ESF Command would like a ship to assist in the construction and initial investigation of the asteroid, just in case of any unforeseen difficulties.
Having missed out on the Alpha Centauri excitement, the ESS Leviathan continued its course out into the void. Arriving in the starless Gamma 12 sector, the ship set about trying to scan the vacuum. Unfortunately, either the sector is truly empty, or more time will be needed to properly scan the vast expanse.
Captain John Jack Utah sent probes down to the dying world, dubbed Red Rock, to try and document what they could of the planet’s biosphere before it finally suffocated under the ash and smoke. Engineering managed to rig some probes with enough protection to survive plummeting into the upper atmosphere of the planet long enough to send back readings to the Catalina, and maybe even return to the ship. The probes managed to break the upper atmosphere, and all but one even managed to exit the atmosphere and return to the ship. One probe descended a smidge too steeply and plummeted into the planet. Although it was destroyed, the readings from the doomed probe proved the most insightful, revealing a number of massive lifeforms living their last days on the planet. They were grouped together in herds of a few hundred, and were grouped together now as they suffocated and starved. Whatever plantlife had covered the planet before the catastrophe was long gone, and the oceans appeared to be devoid of any near-surface life. As the month came to a close, the science crew aboard the ship sent their findings off to Sol and ESF Science Council, and the ship prepared to leave the dead planet behind.
5d20=66 (20+15+10+14+7) vs DC40
Substantial Success
Result: +120RCs for ESS Catalina
***
Captain Irene Yeoh of the ESS Dave Bowman ordered one of the ship’s shuttles to enter a close orbit of one of the black hole ring’s larger asteroids to conduct tests. Coordinating with the ship’s main scanners, the shuttle launched probes to survey the asteroid, which soon detected a tight and powerful electromagnetic field, causing some malfunctions in one of the probes. After some modifications, further scans showed the asteroid to contain very large amounts of silver, gold and copper, and to be carrying a huge electric charge. As scans continued, the crew was lucky to witness a charge burst away from the field and through the vacuum of space towards the next nearest asteroid. Studying the nearby dust and smaller bodies making up the ring revealed them to also be charged. Furthermore, the entire ring itself was somehow maintaining a weak electromagnetic field, which bursts of electric charges used to bounce between bodies. Even more intriguing, the electricity didn’t seem to be acting predictably, but rather almost deliberately. A wild attempt to signal the asteroids of course resulted in no response, but when a charge was sent into the field by a probe it was met with a flurry of visible electricity. The asteroid, and the ring in general, were deemed too dangerous to directly enter, but the information gathered has delighted ESF Science Council, and ESF Command is very interested in pursuing this thread further.
6d20+3=83 (18+15+9+18+3+17+3) vs DC40
Extreme Success
Result: +160RCs for ESS Dave Bowman
Tapping In Yellow Alert
The highly active electromagnetic field in the ring around the G17 Sepang black hole, and the possible electric life inhabiting it, is highly interesting for ESF Command and ESF Science Council. They would like to create a station near the ring, close enough to probe and study the ring, and if possible discover how the ring is generating its charge, and if humanity could harness that power. ESF Command wants a starship to oversee and direct the construction of the station, as well as assist in the first batches of studies and direct contact with the ring. If possible, ESF Science Council would also like to ‘capture’ one of the active charges to see if there really is some sort of intelligence at work.
Having sent the Voyager 1 probe back on its way, the ESS Zero Gravitas began its trek into the unknown, though it kept a portion of its sensors locked onto the probe, and a large portion of the science team was tasked with pouring over the probe’s messages. In a strange turn of events, it appears the Voyager probe has ceased transmitting data to Earth, only maintaining contact with the Zero Gravitas. While the ESF Science Council is not particularly happy about this, they do appreciate the data relayed to them through the Zero Gravitas. The data received from the probe has described far off stars, planets and nebulas, but frustratingly only in small narrow glimpses, making it so far impossible to locate where the probe actually is or has been.
3d20=24 (3+16+5) vs DC10
Extreme Success
Result: +40RCs for ESS Zero Gravitas
As the ESS Colombus prepared itself for its second warp jump, its medical and science teams studied crewmembers afflicted with the ‘void sickness.’ After a suite of scans and drug cocktails, the team was able to find a consistent cure for the affliction. Soon enough, all crew members were back at their stations, and the solution to the sickness was sent to the appreciative medical staff at the ESF Science Council
3d20=33 (16+5+12) vs DC20
Substantial Success
Result: +60RCs for ESS Colombus
The first interstellar jump for the Gravitas brought it to the D24 sector, where it met up with the ESS Colombus. The Gravitas’ sensor functions were unfortunately disappointing, only giving a cursory picture of the sector, but the Colombus’s scans were much more thorough. The yellow supergiant system was found to a few planets, most of which were far too close to the star to be even remotely habitable. The most notable body in the system was an extremely large gas giant with dozens of moons, and these moons were the source of the two ships’ greatest discoveries. Three of the moons were all found to be containing relatively stable atmospheres and liquid oceans (one of water, one of methane, and one of nitrogen). Further scans showed that not only do all three moons almost certainly have some form of life living in these oceans, but also found dozens of large chunks of ice somehow launching out of the moons’ oceans, drifting through space towards their neighbouring moons.
Gravitas 2d20=14 (10+4)
Colombus 4d20=55 (16+4+11+16+8)
Result: Veii D24 69% discovered, 14RCs for ESS Zero Gravitas, +55RCs for ESS Colombus
Ice Cold Blue Alert
Three moons in the Veii D24 sector were all found to be containing relatively stable atmospheres and liquid oceans (one of water, one of methane, and one of nitrogen). Further scans showed that not only do all three moons almost certainly have some form of life living in these oceans, but also found dozens of large chunks of ice somehow launching out of the moons’ oceans, drifting through space towards their neighbouring moons. The ice launches are assumed to be the doing of intelligent life, but so far attempts at communication have proven fruitless. ESF Command requests further attempts to make contact with whatever life forms may be presents, with suggestions ranging from grabbing one of the floating ice chunks, to landing on one of the moons themselves.
The ESS Midway made its second interstellar warp to the Epsilon 12 sector, dubbing it Stickler E12. The ship didn’t have much time to survey the nearby red dwarf star system before an undetected ship decloaked and opened fire. The Midway’s shields held through the first volley, and after exchanging a few barrages, the attacker’s shields and weapons were knocked out. Without weapons, the ship made a failed stealth retreat, but then successfully outpaced the slower Midway, leaving sensor range. The attacking ship was likely a scout ship, fast and equipped with advanced sensors and stealth technology, but with light weapons and defenses. The sensor logs from the short skirmish were unfortunately not very broad, with little readings of what kind of lifeforms were aboard the ship, or where the ship retreated to.
Spoilercombat logs :
Stealth roll
Scout stealth 30 vs 19 success
Midway stealth 17 vs 35 fail
Scout free attack 18, hit, 1 damage to shields
Scout attack 13, miss
Midway attack 11, miss
Scout attack 3, miss
Midway attack 19, hit, 1 damage to shields, 1 damage to weapons
Scout stealth retreat 14 vs 12, 17 vs 20, fail
Midway attack 12, miss
Scout engine retreat 17 vs 7, 20 vs 6, 19 vs 3, success
Result: +40RCs for ESS Midway, -1 shields for ESS Midway
In the Anastasia B7 sector, the ESS Tiamat was joined by the ESS Tian Shan and ESS Ghost in the Machine, and the the three ships began a joint operation to make contact with the life forms in the dome city. Attempts by the three ships to contact the beings in the dome received no reply, and so the ships turned their scanners on identifying a way into the dome. Shuttles brought three away teams to what appeared to be a ‘gate,’ though it appeared to be permanently shut with no obvious access. The Tiamat and Ghost in the Machine engineering teams managed to cut their way into the gate and connecting the Ghost’s android engineers directly into the gate’s systems. Soon enough, the gate was opened, and the away teams moved into a large airlock, and after nearly an hour of various automated decontamination procedures, emerged into the domed environment. Tests showed the air was breathable, though the away team remained in their suits on the off chance there could be some negative cross contamination between them and the alien environment. The gate opened into the hilly woodlands that surrounded the edges of the dome, and the science teams eagerly began taking samples from the never-before-seen plantlife around them.
Tian Shan’s Captain Leon let the science teams fuss over their findings for half an hour, then rounded the teams up to push further into the dome towards the city. Aided by the ships’ scanners, the security crew fanned out in front of the team as they moved out of the woods and into the flat farms surrounding the central city. Robotic harvesters and planters tended the fields of high stocked crops, paying no mind to the humans and androids. Automated farms are by no means unknown on Earth or Mars, and in fact humanity’s farms were in many ways more advanced than the ones in the dome. There was no verticality, no underground systems, and the only light source was the artificially enhanced sunlight streaming down through the top of the dome. If not for the strange crops and robotic workers, the farms could have been mistaken for those on Earth four centuries ago. Those robots proved to be far more advanced than anything mankind had created, making the Ghost in the Machine’s android crew look like 20th century toasters by comparison. The androids could see no obvious way to connect or communicate with the alien machines, and simple auditory and visual attempts and communication were just as useless. As the team trudged through the farms they met no one but the robotic workers until they came to the end of the farms and the edge of the city, which was encircled by spacious parks. And here in these parks, full of intricately sculptured landscapes, sculptures and all manner of artwork, the away teams were greeted by their hosts.
Flanked by six fearsome looking robots, three aliens stood - or sat, or layed - waiting. One of the robots gurgled a series of grating noises and flashed various patterns of lights at the party, likely some sort of warning, but one of the aliens made a much lighter gurgle and a flit of an appendage, and the robot quieted down. Lt. Lancer and Ens. Horn, the Tian Shan’s and Tiamat’s linguists, worked quickly with Captain Leon and the command personnel, greeting the aliens as best they could, with the security teams stayed close by but with weapons lowered. The aliens appeared to accept the greeting as peaceful, and ?ushered? the team to follow them through the park. Amongst the gardens were more of aliens, sort of slug-crab like creatures - though oddly pleasant to look at, as well as all manner of robots. The aliens all stopped what they were doing, whether it be sculpting, gardening, playing, or ?singing?, to look and shiver, gurgle, and hum at the humans and androids. As they walked through the gardens and the linguists fretted over more sophisticated means of communication, it was Tian Shan’s 2nd Lt. Michelle Su and Ghost in the Machine’s recently changed Ens. X-1241132 that made the breakthrough that would pave the way for the next few weeks of cultural exchanges. Seeing nearly every single alien partaking in some form of creative expression, Su and X132 whispered to each other for a time, then shrugged and began to sing. And that was how humanity made its first extrasolar friends.
That first informal concert led to almost continuous cultural exchanges, with the creatures showing off their own songs, sculptures, light shows, ?dances?, and all manner of new and bizarre artworks, and them demanding to see and voraciously consuming every byte of data the ships’ computers had on Earth’s arts. Over this time the linguists managed to piece together a rough means of text communication, and after some stumbles the aliens chose a name for themselves using the human latin alphabet - Aesthans. Science personnel found the dome to be ancient, likely well over 100,000 years old. The aesthans seemed to have no knowledge of where they originally came from, though much of their artwork covered themes of coming from the stars. They showed little concern for discovering this mystery, and indeed didn’t seem to fully understand what space was. This lack of scientific or technological curiosity seemed to be at odds with the sophisticated robotics that existed to support nearly every aspect of the their environment and lifestyle, but the aesthans didn’t notice, or weren’t bothered, by the contradiction. Almost the entire population was completely devoted to artistic expression, and even the small castes of administrators and engineers only spent a few hours of the day ‘working.’
Some of the aesthans showed discomfort, uneased by the sudden appearance of aliens, but the Captain Leon and the command personnel worked diligently with the aesthan leaders. ‘Talks’ were highly successful, and by the end of the month transport from Sol brought official ambassadors and support staff to man a permanent presence in an embassy district in the city, and the aesthans also agreed to send some of their own more bold fellows to Earth. While still content in their bubble for the time being, this successful first contact has opened the aesthans eye-stalks to the stars.
Tian Shan 6d20+16=86 (15+12+9+15+6+14+16)
Tiamat 10d20+14=138 (13+5+16+19+16+5+8+19+9+14+14)
Ghost in the Machine 6d20+9=54 (7+1+16+4+16+1+9)
278 vs DC100
Extreme Success
Result: Friendly relations between SEA and aesthans, SEA colony established on Anastasia B7-3a, +123 RCs for ESS Tian Shan, +198RCs for ESS Tiamat, +78 RCs for ESS Ghost in the Machine
***
The ESS Azrael, ESS Hiawatha, ESS Angela Ziegler and ESS Geneva immediately set to work establishing proper contact with the alien vessel orbiting the Proxima Centauri planet, with the ESS Scarborough forming up over them in case things went south. Regular attempts to contact the alien vessel were made while linguists raced to decipher the script and audio packages, but the aliens remained stubbornly silent, making no indication they had even received the signals. The alien signal only contained about thirty seconds of audio, and the text seemed to only contain a few dozen characters, depending on how it was supposed to be read. The language was less spoken words than a series of clicks and scrapes, quite possibly not even vocal sounds. The script was a series of lines with very few curves, looking like a complex series of scratches or cuts rather than definite symbols or letters. While the team could find a few repeating sections in both the audio and text that matched each other, the material was simply to limited and contextless to decipher meaning.
Frustrated with the narrow sample size and being ignored by the aliens, the ESF ships took a long shot and tried to use the ships themselves to communicate, doing a series of maneuvers in formation. They initially received to response, but after a particular maneuver that brought the Scarborough closer to the alien ship, a second signal package was received, this one larger, and with added images. In addition to a number of longer audio recording and texts, there were a series of images of the ships’ maneuvers, and a close-up of the Scarborough. The science team was able to match each recording and text to an image, finally giving some much needed context. While not at all precise, Lt. Thompson, Ensigns Colex and Turku and their teams were able to work out that the recordings were descriptions of their ships, maneuvers, and flaws in their designs. Comparing with the original message, they concluded that it was a warning as much as a greeting, simply explaining that the ESF vessels were inferior to the alien ship. They didn’t believe there were any direct threats in the messages, but the subtext was clear. The aliens didn’t see them as a threat, and as such didn’t feel the need to acknowledge them. But they had responded to the maneuvers, though in an equally dismissive and condescending way.
The science and command teams concluded that they needed to impress the aliens to some extent to get their attention, but without actually appearing threatening enough to warrant a violent response. Using the audio and text sections that the linguists had reasonably decoded, a synthesised message was made in the alien language, once again stating who the ESF were, what they were doing, and ending with a demand (they didn’t know how to phrase a request at the time, and would later find it to be impossible be polite in the alien language). Using the combined power of the four ships comms, the fleet fired a tight beam loaded with the data at what they thought must be the ship’s sensor array. The aliens immediately reacted, ceasing their scans of the planet to focus entirely on scanning the ESF ships, as well as sending massive packages of data at them to the point of overwhelming the ships’ computers. After the ships stopped transmitting the package, it broadcast a live video and audio feed, showing a close up of the upper body of one of the aliens, possibly their equivalent to a captain. The creature’s ?face? was insectoid in nature, with numerous oral appendages, though its eyes were more avian, and its body was covered by a mottled fur. The alien had two apparent sets of upper limbs, a larger triple jointed set and a smaller lower double jointed, both of which ended with hands made up of three sharp prongs. The alien ‘spoke’ by snapping its oral appendages and limbs together, making the clacking sounds heard earlier, with no apparent vocal abilities.
While the linguists raced to decipher what the alien had said, the human captains started idly at the similarly silent alien. While Captains Southerland and Bramford made a few failed attempts to say ‘hi’ in their own languages, it was the Geneva’s Captain Georgiou that coughed, then rapped her knuckles on her chair’s arm, and before the crews could figure out what was happening the Hiawatha’s Captain Azarola quickly repeated the gesture, adding an additional flurrish of knocks at the end. The alien seemed to shiver, emitting a low hiss of released air. A laugh.
The alien ship eventually returned to scanning the planet, though trading messages with the ESF ships as they slowly deciphered each other’s languages. The aliens, who simply referred to themselves as Scouts, and whatever place they came from as the Centre, were not very forthcoming with their origin or homeworld, but were fairly open to any other questions. They also evidently had come to respect humanity to some extent, as it rapidly became clear they had already worked out human languages, but simply refused to send messages in human text. Whether this was arrogance, or a way to force the ESF science crews to work out how to write in the Scouts’ script, the aliens didn’t answer, but by the end of the month humanity could communicate with aliens textually with relative ease, and the aliens seemed to be able to follow human speech reasonably accurately, though it was still beyond anyone’s ability to understand the aliens’ ‘speech’ at a conversational pace.
The Scout ship eventually finished with its scans and departed from the sector, heading out into the deep unknown. Before leaving it communicated that a diplomatic ship would arrive at Earth in the near future. It did not give the location of its ‘Centre,’ beyond saying that it was very far away, but did reveal that there was a Centre colony in Epsilon 19, and gave an IFF code to be transmitted should any ESF ship travel to the system, so as not to be immediately shot out of space.
Azrael 8d20+6=132 (12+19+9+16+19+18+18+15+6)
Scarborough 4d20=40 (9+20+6+5)
Hiawatha 7d20+23=100 (9+9+7+1+20+20+14+20)
Geneva 7d20+24=81 (3+6+7+14+1+14+12+24)
Angela Ziegler 4d20+2=15 (2+5+3+3+2)
365 vs DC150
Extreme Success
Result: +216RCs for ESS Azrael, +66RCs for ESS Scarborough, +164RCs for ESS Hiawatha, +133RCs for ESS Geneva, +25RCs for ESS Angela Ziegler
***
Ship Challenges ESS Midway
Spoiler:
Bread Crumbs Blue Alert
The Midway’s sensors recorded a very weak radiation trail left by the damaged alien ship. While the trail has since dissipated, If a significant portion of the ship’s scanners and science crew are tasked with analysing the leftover radiation and last sensor readings as the alien ship retreated, the most likely destination of the alien vessel could be determined.[/quote]
ESS Leviathan
Spoiler:
Sausage Party Blue Alert
The ship’s alchemy oven has been printing sausages unordered for the past week. It started with only one sausage an hour, which was easy enough to deal with. But now sausages are being cooked every minute, and not only is the crew is finding it difficult to deal with all the meat, the oven’s store of nutrient blocks is being depleted faster than it can be restored. If the rate of sausages increases, it may to be too late to stop the wave of wieners and the oven will have to be destroyed and replaced.
Sector Challenges
Spoiler:
Alpha Centauri A4
Spoiler:
Singalong Blue Alert
Proper communication has yet to be established with whatever is sending the ‘musical’ signals from the chaotic planet orbiting Proxima Centauri. ESF Command considers it a top priority for comprehensible contact to be established with the signal-senders, and to determine who or what they are, why they sent the signal, and most importantly, if they are peaceful.
Ascending Blue Alert
A planet smaller than mercury very close to Alpha Centauri B appears to be widening its orbit at a progressively faster rate, lengthening its year by nearly an hour every full cycle, which at this point is roughly two Earth-months. The planet surface is inhospitable to human life, with a tenuous and rapidly changing atmosphere, and temperatures either far too hot or far too cold. Any surface activity would have to be done quickly before safety measures break down. ESF Science Council is very interested in how or why this is happening
Hard Attraction Yellow Alert
A small planet orbiting Alpha Centauri B is pock marked with a huge number of craters, which is odd given the comparatively thick atmosphere and active weather patterns. Further scans seemed to indicate that comets and meteors throughout the system were actual being somehow pulled towards the planet, and in just this year alone is projected to receive dozens more substantial impacts. It could be very useful for future colonisation or terraforming efforts to understand what is happening. Approaching the planet could prove dangerous, as small meteors are constantly assaulting the planet, many of which are too small to be detected with substantial forewarning, and the planet’s surface is also less than hospitable, with frequent dust storms raging across the world.
Off to Work We Go Blue Alert
Automated mining stations dot the asteroids in the system’s outer asteroid belt. Scanners show around twenty of these stations, and among them absolutely no biological life. The stations appear to have docking stations, most likely for cargo ships, but no ships are currently present in the system beyond the alien vessel around Proxima Centauri. The mining stations may be related to the alien ship, but there is no way to tell without further inspection. The SEA is interested in discovering how these stations operate, as they appear to be far more advanced than the automated stations in the Sol system.
In the Ring Yellow Alert
An odd reading located some sort of space station far in the outer reaches of the system. There are no apparent life forms, nor are there any readings to indicate active robotics or computers. The station is a large ring, with the empty space having a diameter of nearly two kilometers, with the structure itself being about 50 meters across. Once again, it may be related to the alien ship or the mining stations, but further inspection is required.
Torus A6
Spoiler:
Get Your Rocks Off Blue Alert
A tantalum-rich asteroid has caught the eye of ESF Command. The quantity of the element present has drawn some speculation that the asteroid may even be of artificial origin. An ESF construction ship is ready to head warp to Torus A6 to begin constructing a scientific and mining station on the asteroid, but ESF Command would like a ship to assist in the construction and initial investigation of the asteroid, just in case of any unforeseen difficulties.
Beta 8
Spoiler:
First Responder Yellow Alert
A damaged alien ship is adrift in the system’s asteroid ring, with only minimal power. Several weak life signs aboard a sealed section of the ship, and the ship could lose power at any moment. The ship’s damage is extensive, and scans indicate that while the power core is weak, it is also unstable. ESF Command is of course willing to allow any ship to evacuate the survivors, but is also puts a priority on discovering how and why the ship was damaged in the first place.
Veii D24
Spoiler:
Ice Cold Blue Alert
Three moons in the Veii D24 sector were all found to be containing relatively stable atmospheres and liquid oceans (one of water, one of methane, and one of nitrogen). Further scans showed that not only do all three moons almost certainly have some form of life living in these oceans, but also found dozens of large chunks of ice somehow launching out of the moons’ oceans, drifting through space towards their neighbouring moons. The ice launches are assumed to be the doing of intelligent life, but so far attempts at communication have proven fruitless. ESF Command requests further attempts to make contact with whatever life forms may be presents, with suggestions ranging from grabbing one of the floating ice chunks, to landing on one of the moons themselves.
Midway G8
Spoiler:
Rock Wrangling Blue Alert
A large rogue comet, 23.4km in diameter, in the outer reaches of the Midway sector has been determined to contain an unknown material deep within it. The ESF Science Corp would love to get their hands on a sample of the material, if there is any way to drill or blast down into the comet’s core. There is obvious risk in putting a crew directly on the comet’s service, while the safer option of blasting the comet at a distance risks damaging the inner material, if ships’ weapons are even effective against an object of this size.
Sepang G17
Spoiler:
Tapping In Yellow Alert
The highly active electromagnetic field in the ring around the G17 Sepang black hole, and the possible electric life inhabiting it, is highly interesting for ESF Command and ESF Science Council. They would like to create a station near the ring, close enough to probe and study the ring, and if possible discover how the ring is generating its charge, and if humanity could harness that power. ESF Command wants a starship to oversee and direct the construction of the station, as well as assist in the first batches of studies and direct contact with the ring. If possible, ESF Science Council would also like to ‘capture’ one of the active charges to see if there really is some sort of intelligence at work.
Deep Dive Blue Alert
The Sepang black hole is the first of its kind to be viewed up close by humanity. This presents a huge opportunity for groundbreaking studies into the nature of black holes. The presence of the ring also indicates it may be possible to approach the black hole itself, probing the edge of its event horizon. Depending on the study’s results, ESF is considering establishing a permanent science station in the system. Assuming, of course, the black hole is proven to be safe.
Waggle our wings as a thanks to the Scarborough for it's Support, and for the Hiawatha, Angela Zeigler, and Geneva's assistance in a job well done.
Communicate with Earth all information we have learned about the Scouts.
Spend Requisition to call for an Ensign Special Operative, Ensign Conrad Bailey.
As soon as he arrives, warp to the Ring and designate it “Point Alpha.”
As we approach, use full sensors/comms to scan the Ring, attempting to determine what we can of its construction, to connect with its central computer, and to find an entrance/opening. (Sensors/Coms 2, Stealth 1)
Pilot Mickey will pilot the shuttle to land an away team, which will consist of a number of security and science personnelle. Lt. Beringer will lead the team to investigate the inside of the rings, learning what we can. This team will also include the two ensigns, who will be responsible for their various specialities.
Ensign Bailey will lead the security team to secure the station and ensure that there are no surprises for our away teams or for any future colonists. IF there are active defenses, attempt to suborn them or deactivate them. (Coms 1, Security 1, Command 1, Engineering 1)
Lt. Beringer will work with ensign Turku to find out what we can about the people who built this thing, and presumably lived here. (Science 3, Engineering 1, Medical 1)
OF course, these teams will communicate, and if one finds something helpful for the others, then coordinate that information (Like, decoding the alien language to help suborn defenses, or something.)
IF something goes bad, Pilot Mickey will assume command, as the pilot, and evacuate the Ring of ESF staff. The Azrael will run support and intereference (Command 1, Engines 1, Weapons 2, Shields and Armor 2)
IF the ring seems like a viable option for a colony, relay the information to Earth Command, and rename the ring “Niven,” UNLESS we have determined a native name for the ring, in which case translate that name to English and use it.
ESS Tiamat
After the successful first contact with the aesthans, Captain Zhan sets her eyes on "New Terra" to satisfy her never ending curiosity, it may not be as exciting as first contact but a adventurer is a adventurer none the less. Before ESS Tiamat setts off to New Terra Lt. Gunner Johnny Wagner request a meeting with the Captain regarding the ship's weapon systems. He feels they are not up to the standard. He requests a series of upgrades to the systems before travelling anywhere, to protect the ship and crew better if danger should befall them in their travels across the unknown space. Naomi sees the logic behind this and who is she to refuse an old friend a request like this. Naomi orders a full upgrade of the weapon systems overseen by Lt. Wagner personally, but not before having a drink or two and talk about the old days. (225RC to upgrade ESS Tiamat's weapons to rank 3)
World of Green We will send a ground team made up by Terra Prime leading the Science/medical team with a Security team to protect them. The ground team will study the clusters, determinate if they pose any danger to colonization the planet and collect different types of specimens to be studied. The medical team will also make sure they don't get sick from anything or bring dangerous bacteries, viruses and so on back to the ship.
2nd Lt. Android Terra Prime, 1 points security, 4 points of science (4 points of assist from command), 2 point of medical.
ESS Tiamat will assist the ground team with scanning the planet.
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