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May 2023 It's been hectic this last year, but we are alive and celebrating our fifth year of adventure and tales. A lot has been worked on to help make the Monoverse one that everyone can enjoy and explore their story while becoming a part of the greater cosmos. All of you, new and long time players, stay safe, and see you in the Sea of Stars!
I CAN'T HEAR THE STARS, BUT THE VOICE SPEAKS TO ME IN THE DARK
The streaking prismatic smear of the slipstream cascaded outside the lithe red vessel that carried square markings across on side of its hull by the viewport, its engines glowing as bright as a miniature star as it raced through the hyper realm. Seated at the console with her left hand hovering over the shining crystalline sphere while her right gripped at the main controls, Samus kept an eye on the navigation display, counting down to when she would be bringing the Thrush back into normal space. "Appreciate the company on this," she said as she glanced back for a moment to her two companions. One was the all too familiar feathered face and beak of her self-proclaimed mawkin "murder-brother", who was laying back on the makeshift "couch" that sat opposite the minimalist kitchenette unit. The other was the lupine Vlaka, Tycho, who apparently had worked with Eresh on some mission that…neither really wanted to talk about what had happened beyond the contacts they had made.
"About five minutes and we'll be in the first survey point." A few taps at the console as she readied for the shift back to normal space. To be more accurate, they would be at the first point where they hoped to find a viable system for survey. The charts she was using were, unfortunately, some centuries out of use, though they were reliable enough in the cosmic scale for reliable travel and for using the NavCom to calculate where the locations would have drifted to since. At least unless a star exploded right in their path, or a singularity formed out of nowhere.
"We should be able to resume contact with our Sangheili escorts once we revert to three-dee space," Samus remarked as the timer counted down until the needed denatured from the slipstream. "Hope the trip hasn't made you too space sick, Tycho. Slipstream tends to be disorienting to people who have never been in it before."
Post by Tycho Kalhalati on Sept 12, 2023 5:17:34 GMT
Tycho had been leaning up against the kitchenette's counter, blankly staring into the little paper cup of coffee in his left hand. Somehow as the minutes went by it was doing a better job of keeping his attention than the datapad he held in his other hand, upon which the prompt of a Sangheili language lesson blipped impatiently. The necessity of such a thing was next to zero, but Night City taught him that leaning a language goes a long way towards learning about a culture. The Sangheili were apparently major players, or so he had been led to believe. They apparently had history with humanity sometime in the past, both for better and for worse. That was interesting enough to the Vlaka on its own.
When Samus first spoke, it broke his trance a bit. His mind had drifted away from the language lessons to somewhere he didn't want to be, and it was written all over the Vlaka's expression. Suddenly he was back on a pretty little ship, screaming through space faster than light could go, an infinite number of miles away. His shoulders settled.
Tycho looked past Samus to the space outside the cockpit and tilted his head slightly, setting the datapad aside and stepping up to by the pilot seat. "Honestly, I just appreciate you letting me in on this. Bumming rides off people for jobs is starting to get a little old, but at least it helps me see the galaxy."
A small pause to down the majority of what was in the cup, glancing down at Samus for a moment, before returning his attention to the nauseatingly-incomprehensible sight outside. It was getting a little easier each time to look at it, and the strange beauty of it kept him motivated to adjust instead of just looking away.
"Gets a little easier every time I look. Would you believe me if I said I didn't even know there were other kinds of FTL drives out there, until my first GalRail trip?" Stuffing his other hand into his jacket's pocket, finishing the last of his coffee and letting the empty cup hang by the ends of his claws, hooking them under its rim. "Only ever used Jump Drives back home. Blink-and-you're-there, even if crawling to the right spot could take weeks."
Post by Eresh Tarren on Sept 12, 2023 14:26:42 GMT
Said murder-brother remained reclined as he was, eyes still closed as he took a slow breath before opening one luminescent red eye, the orb darting towards the direction of her voice. “It is no problem at all, I typically enjoy joining you on assignments- something unexpected always tends to happen to break up whatever monotony that would’ve otherwise been present,” he gave a series of raspy chuckles as he slowly sat up. “This time just so happens to have a third party to witness whatever strangeness is sure to occur.”
While his tone was light and jovial, Eresh had been uncharacteristically quiet and thoughtful as of late. That wasn’t anything new in of itself: he was typically laser-focused and methodical while on-mission, efficient and to the point… but when there was downtime he was almost a different person; gregarious, light hearted and quick to provide levity to a conversation felt too serious. But after that mission with Tycho something clearly had changed, not to a dramatic degree.. but it was noticeable.
“Care to catch us back up on what this survey mission is supposed to entail?”
I CAN'T HEAR THE STARS ANYMORE... BUT THE VOICE SPEAKS TO ME IN THE DARK…
The blonde young woman sighed as she held her hand over the crystalline control sphere of the Thrush's flux drive, her eyes shifting a bit. "The Arbiter's council had put out a request for finding unclaimed planetoids and other sources of usable materials for construction. They offered a lot for helping find viable systems since they're dealing with what's left of any war effort and also some stuff with Triangulam if the scuttlebutt is anywhere near true." It wasn't for going after Ridley and the Cunning Death, that was for sure. That had already been made clear some weeks ago after Confleet announced that not only had they smashed some kind of Kromus research facility in the Omega Centauri cluster, but they had captured the High Command, Ridley, and the Death.
All thanks to their newly revealed ÆSIR-II troops, and the tactical efforts of the TCS Concordia and her command staff. Which Admiral Dane had confirmed to her in private. They had Ridley. They had his ship. They had the Kromus High Command. The Kromus may still be running around the galaxy, but there was no centralized leadership, nothing uniting them.
It was practically over. After over thirty years.
And yet…even she didn't feel like it was.
She was distracting herself. "They helped me out in rescuing the Chozo who were captive on Zebes three years ago, figured I could repay the favor and do some work for them…and they compensate well."
A few more seconds, and she rolled her hand over the sphere, bringing her ship out of the slipstream and back into normal space. It was just waiting for their assigned escorts now, who shouldn't be far behind. "Gonna be honest, I expect this to be a decently easy job, so I mainly brought you two along for some company, and to help a green hunter out with some good contacts."
Post by Eresh Tarren on Sept 12, 2023 22:20:47 GMT
“All well and good, I still suspect that something,” his eye then twitched as if he were wincing as something uncomfortable came to mind. “More eventful will happen. You do seem to be a magnet for excitement, Samus.”
His tone has become slightly subdued at the end, but he would then address Tycho. “It may not seem like it, but Aran here makes me look like a crippled old man- or at least she will one day.” He said as he gave a small smile. “I’m convinced that she’s immortal.”
He didn’t bother explaining why he suddenly trailed off midway through the conversation, truthfully he hoped that neither noticed anything amiss. He didn’t want to admit that he had a sense of unease that seemed to be completely unfounded. He didn’t know why he felt that way, but he didn’t want to make either them worry. Moreover.. he didn’t want Ha’chidari to think that he was worried about her- she had been through enough already the past few months and didn’t need that doubt hanging in the air.
Doubt.. what the hell did have to doubt about her anyway? That wasn’t like him..
Post by Tycho Kalhalati on Sept 13, 2023 3:04:03 GMT
"Heh- I believe it. I'd imagine you don't earn the scratch to buy a ship like this without making waves, and... you both have, as I understand it." A glance back over his shoulder at the Mawkin, the Vlaka's tail gently starting to sway back and forth. He was trying his best to relish the opportunity to not be completely alone in his own thoughts, and centering his mind solely on the job wasn't working out like how he was hoping. There was an anxiety there, deep down. One that was taking effort not to acknowledge.
"I, uh... looked you both up." He continued, turning to step over into the kitchenette area and throw his cup away. Tycho paused for a moment to watch the hyper realm scream by outside the viewport, before stepping over to lean his back against a bulkhead. "Mean nothing by it, just got kinda curious about things after meeting Samus and that Snowhawk lady at the Reach. Figured there's no way you could get government connections in an industry this big without being big names yourselves, and go figure, you are."
The Vlaka leaned his head back a bit, feeling the prickling cold of his mane touching metal, eyes shifting between the two of them. They lingered on Eresh a little too long.
"Guess I just appreciate it, is all. Helping a green hunter out, like you said... cant help but I feel like I lucked out a bit." Uncrossing his arms and putting his hands back in his pockets, gaze shifting now back to the space outside the cockpit, once again feeling the rush of nausea a little more tamely than even just moments ago.
"Merc culture is pretty hierarchical where I come from, this kinda thing doesn't usually happen."
I CAN'T HEAR THE STARS ANYMORE... BUT THE VOICE SPEAKS TO ME IN THE DARK…
The Mawkin was speaking far more dower than he had before things on SR388c. Had the whole thing really messed him up like that? Eresh wasn't the one who had almost died to an invasive hyperparasite, nor had he lost a power suit that had been built by a father figure. No, he had still been something of his more upbeat self even at Beta Five, something had happened on this mission where he and Tycho had met. It wasn't her nature to pry, but she needed to know what was going on eventually.
And speaking of the inquisitive young lupine hunter…
"Three years ago, I'd not be one to tell anyone how I got this ship, but being that Confleet released some of where I really was for twelve years…" She breathed in a moment as the ship waited in an idle hum, leaning back and turning her seat to face her companions. "My parents were first generation ÆSIR augmented special troopers, they fought the Kromus at the Siege of Krom and were pretty much the poster children of the Confederation war effort twenty-five years ago. When they were killed by the Kromus on K-2L, I was found and taken in by the Chozo who lived on Zebes."
She found herself once more missing the sight of her powered suit in its containment chamber at the back of the main cabin. "My adopted father had this ship built for me after I routed out the Pirates from the nest city on Zebes, before he and the other surviving chó'za were evacuated by the fleet to a safer location." Samus suddenly realized that she was fingering the arm rest, her left hand acting twitchy for some unknown reason as the recent events on SR388c came back to her.
Naraka, the Chozo had named the planet. It had been an appropriate choice, she reflected as she pushed her tongue against the back of her teeth behind closed lips, feeling the still unfamiliar edges of her slightly elongated canines. A reminder, she realized, of what had happened, and what had saved her. Naraka…the Chozo equivalent of Hell.
Samus blinked as she realized that she was staring into space.. "Uh…yeah, not going to lie though, I've made my fair share of high up contacts. Did a few jobs directly for Chairman Kea'ton, and Admiral Dane in ConFleet is a family friend." She tilted her head after a moment, small and quick motions like a bird. "I'm not as familiar with mercenary work as a direct whole, since I've been doing the hunter thing since we evacuated the Chozo from Zebes, but I've found that most independent bounty hunters are decently supportive of each other. It's mostly the guilds that are more competitive in my experience."
The small talk helped pass the time as they waited for their Sangheili escorts. Samus turned back toward her console and tapped a few projected keys, feeling a mild thump as her ship released a small probe into the inner system ahead of them.
The first system Samus's ship arrives in is largely empty, a lone star orbited by a small asteroid belt and two worlds of frozen ice and silicate. A handful of carbonaceous asteroids are pinged by Samus's probe.
Findings:
Roll 1: A handful of carbonaceous asteroids. Two frozen worlds of ice and silicate oxides with minimal mineral value.
Post by Tycho Kalhalati on Sept 13, 2023 6:37:45 GMT
There came a moment where Tycho suddenly realized what seemed to odd to him about Samus before, as he listened to the woman talk about her past and watched her mannerisms a little more closely. There was something off-- not wrong, per se, just unlike any human he'd seen before. It almost reminded him of a bird of prey, the way every twitch and tilt and shift of the eyes seemed so rapid-fire, despite being just as precise if not moreso than normal. Knowing now that her adoptive father was a Chozo, whom the Vlaka now knew enough about to understand they were Avian themselves, he supposed it made sense... but that would only explain social mannerisms, or so he assumed. Not anything biological.
It occurred to him that it probably wasn't any of his business, and the thought was left to wither.
"Solos have each others backs out here, huh?" He replied, ears twitching in the direction of the thump between his feet, his yellow eyes following the tiny little engine plume of the launched probe as it sailed off into the void.
"Doesn't sound so bad..."
Once data would start to pour in, Tycho would fetch his datapad from the kitchenette and settle into one of the passenger seats. He eyed the console in front of Samus as he rested an elbow on the chair's arm and put his muzzle in his palm, making sure his device was linked to the ship's sensors (and his own cyberware) before putting the thing back in his pocket.
"Buncha C-types and two snowballs," he muttered, sifting through the data being fed into his mind's eye. "Ess-eye-oh-two... you'd think they'd have found more uses for Quartz by now; the shit seems like it's everywhere in space..."
Post by Eresh Tarren on Sept 13, 2023 17:00:35 GMT
Eresh would say nothing, seemingly preferring to listen as Samus talked. It was another reminder that he wasn’t quite himself.. when it came to telling stories he typically seemed to be quite eager to do so. At the moment though? Not a peep out of him, even when Tycho mentioned that he had looked into Eresh as well. Not that there was much to learn from the background check: his history seemed to solely revolve around the jobs he had taken over the past two- three years.. anything before that simply did not exist on record.
And when the probes returned and Eresh heard of the rather unexciting results, he would shrug.
“Ah well, that’s to be expected his early. Let me know if something more interesting comes up.” And he would settle back on the couch and close his eyes, breathing steadily slowing until it was the rhythm of someone who had fallen asleep. He hadn’t, rather he was trying to center himself.. find focus amongst the distractions that his mind thought fitting to dredge up.
I CAN'T HEAR THE STARS ANYMORE... BUT THE VOICE SPEAKS TO ME IN THE DARK…
Her brow creased, but Samus kept her tongue pit as she began logging the probe's findings and checking for any sign of their expected escort. Still nothing. Curious.
The next system waited as she began running the navigation charts from the NavCom, noticing that Eresh was laying back down. Maybe sleeping, maybe just resting, it was hard to tell. But, they had work to do. "Buckle up, Tycho," the blonde hunter stated as the navigation calculations confirmed and were ready. Giving the lupine time enough to ready himself, Samus touched the crystalline sphere, turned her hand, and smirked as the Thrush surged forward in a streak of pseudo-motion and vanished once more into the prismatic cascade of the slipstream. A matter of minutes later, they emerged from the hyper dimensional realm and into a new system nearly six parsecs away. As soon as they had settled, Samus reset the probe and launched.
Jump completed without incident. Four planets detected, largely silicates with trace metal deposits, largely Nickel and Iron.
Findings:
Roll 1: A handful of carbonaceous asteroids. Two frozen worlds of ice and silicate oxides with minimal mineral value. Roll 2: Four rocky planets around a red dwarf star. Trace deposits of Nickel and Iron on two of the four.
Once they reached the next system and Samus sent out the probe, Eresh cracked his eyes open in curiosity, sitting up as he then spoke up “Have the Sangheli contacted us yet? We are supposed to give updates after each survey return yes?” He asked, stretching his neck and ruffling his feathers for a moment.
“On another note, have either of you heard any strange noises over the comms? Are we receiving anything?”
Post by Tycho Kalhalati on Sept 14, 2023 7:49:43 GMT
"No word from our escort, no..." Tycho actually did pull out his datapad this time, and checked the feed there instead of through his implants. The radio silence was making him antsy enough to doubt what he was seeing, almost as if he couldn't believe that everything coming in was so mundane. His bounced his knee idly, eyeing the data with a blank expression, trying to keep his anxiety down... was something actually wrong, or were his nerves just playing tricks on him? Either way, it was messing with his chrome-- mild latency gaps and the occasional garbled value. More "brain static;" a wonderful little "feature" of his biological incompatibility. The metal cant keep up when the brain starts working too hard, or so he was told by his sister.
Nothing had been working quite right since... then, anyway. Stress levels being higher than they were, and all that. The sigh he emitted was more resigned than frustrated.
"... been getting nothing at all, actually." Tycho looked slightly up from the datapad and blinked, staring into the middle distance while he caught what Eresh said, before turning to glance over his shoulder at the Mawkin. A slight head tilt.
I CAN'T HEAR THE STARS ANYMORE... BUT THE VOICE SPEAKS TO ME IN THE DARK…
"Nothing from them yet, like Tycho said." Which was starting to bother Samus, but they weren't too far out from a way to get to safety. The W51 cloud was a dense region of stars and stellar nurseries, but it was also a good region for finding usable planetoids. Some success on this second system, but still not exactly pay dirt. She began resetting the probe once it had returned and logged its data.
It was when she was prepping for their next jump that Samus considered reasons why their escort had not met back up with them yet. They had all left Urs space together, but with the fact that the Thrush had arrived at the first checkpoint alone, and no sign of them still after the second survey…it was troubling to say the least.
A tight beam hyperburst message was sent, likely to arrive back to Urs within an hour or less, updating the Sangheili as to their progress, and the fact that their escorts had never arrived. She waited a bit longer, then set their next survey point and shifted her hand over the crystalline sphere to activate the flux drive. The surge of pseudo-motion sent them tearing across the slipstream, emerging back into normal space after a matter of minutes and a distance of over fifteen light years from where they had been. The probe was launched, and all the while as it ran its scans, Samus had her eye on communications.
