Location - Mid rim, of the Nowian border star system "Blanka"
Vessel: Unregistered salvage
Captain (Unofficial) - Jack Soto
Current activity - Currently inbound to "Klera" space station (1.).
.....
"Still nothing?" Asks Jack after coming back from the cafeterial with a half empty can of carbonated orange juice (2.).
"No... the signature is gone, there wasnt even any other ship in the area, which is strange." Says Kha'ro, furiously scratching his head, it is apparent that he's somewhat frustrated about it.
"Why is it strange?" Asks Jack sitting down in his chair.
"Well... one: There should've been Solan border patrol ships on this side, and there more than clearly werent any."
"And two: You remember that torpedo barrage?" Asks Kha'ro.
"Are you kidding me, how could I forget, that could have been the end of us." Says Jack and shudders while remembering.
"A barrage like that could have been only launched by a millitary ship and a pretty big one at that, so how was it possible that there were no ships or any other signatures in the whole area, we might have taken a little to evacuate Namara but there should have been some indication as to who and where they went." Says Kha'ro.
"That is strange... well, the track's gone cold and we have more pressing matters anyways..." Says Jack.
"Like what?" Asks Luca who has been stuck at the pilot station, listening, the whole time.
"Oh right, I almost forgot. Luca we need to pick up the pace, I ran into Max in the cafeterial. I swear he had the madest look in his eyes I've ever seen a man have. He told me that we need to move, because some of the evacuees are in critical condition.
"I'll see what I can do, but damn... what Thomas did... like... I knew he was good, but that was frightening." Says Luca.
"Yeah, but it was a good thing he was else we wouldnt have made it through the Gate in time."
Apparently during their escape, Thomas managed to override the system limiters on the reactor, saturating it with aditional fuel, this caused the engines to gain a temporary boost in their performance. On the other side however, it heated the reactor up beyond what the cooling system was normaly capable of handling.
Thankfuly the failsafes kicked in and shunted the excess plasma from the reactor, out of the ship, into space, to stop the heat from building up further.
But to be able to deal with the already build up heat the reactor shut itself down and denied a re-activation untill it deals with the heat.
That left the ship to run on backup source, disabling everything but the ion engines and thrusters, which run on backup, as far as propulsion is concerned and dissabling the warp drive (3.)
"Did you ask Thomas when will the reactor restart?" Asks Luca.
"We bumped into each other on my way here, he was looking for a drink and made some... Ehm... descriptive complaints about how hot the reactor and adjacent engine room got after that stunt we pulled."
Jack takes a sip from the can.
"He said something about roughly 2 to 3 hours until its safe to try and reactivate, it but it could be longer."
Jack said and crumpled the now empty can of orange juice.
"Oh... just great... Well, I'll try to squeeze as much from the ion thrusters as I can, but the reactor better be up as soon as possible, trying to travel between planets without a warp drive is a nightmare." Sighs Luca.
"Alright, I'll tell Thomas to do his magic. Kha'ro... if it wouldnt be too much to ask, could you continue looking for that signature?" Jack says as he starts working the intercoms.
"Right..." Says Kha'ro.
*Several hours later...
"Jack, this is Thomas, we can try to re-activate the reactor now." Says Thomas on the intecomms.
"Okay, go make the preparations, we need that warp drive as soon as possible." Says Jack.
....
"Reactor is back on, we should be ready to re-activate the booster engine and then the warp drive." Says Thomas.
"Alright, you ready Luca?" Asks Jack
"Finally, just get that thing running already." Says Luca.
"Alright... Thomas, reactivate the booster eng..."
"What the hell are you doing up there?! A mass jack off or something?! Do you need me, to bring you tissues?!" Everyone on the bridge jumps as the intercomms ring out with Max's frustrated voice.
"Whoa, whoa. Calm down Max! What's going on?" Jack asks still in half-shock.
"What's going on?! You wanna know, what's going on?! Do the words, 'in critical condition' mean nothing in that skull of yours?! I told you that we need to pick up the pace havent I?! Those guys are getting worse by the minute! If we dont get them to the Klera station's medical center within an hour at best, even with all the help from Namara's crew... there's gonna be noone left to save."
The only thing that can be heard after Max finishes his furious rant are is his ragged breathing as he tried to recover from emptying his lungs and faint yells in the background as the sickbay is quite litteraly engaged in a life or death battle against the grim reaper.
"Heard you loud and clear Max, we were just about to get the warp drive up and running again. How long will it take to reach Klera, with the drive, Kha'ro?" Asks Jack.
"We're gonna be cutting it close but I think we should be able to make it, that is if they'll even allow us to dock." Says Kha'ro, his face one of worry.
"They should let us in if we declare... code 37, and then allow them to... to inspect the ship." Says Max who's lungs just barely managed to recover.
"Alright, fire it up Thomas, we have and urgent delivery to handle." Says Jack and nods towards Luca who is impatiently tapping at the joystick of his controls.
"Okay, okay! Kha'ro I'm gonna need the coordinates for the warp jump." Says Luca.
"I just sent them to you." Says Kha'ro without missing a beat.
"Alright, signal the whole ship to prepare for warp." Says Luca. "Lets see if we make it in time." Says Luca as he puts in the new coordinates.
*Little less than an hour later.....
Location - Mid rim, of the Nowian border star system "Blanka"
Station: Nowian Border Station "Klera"
Administrator - Kalus Andrio.
Current Status - High Alert.
...
Klera Station's command center.
"We have an incoming ship, WatchSat (4.) just sent us a picture... no match in the registry. Place your bets gentlemen, raider or a smuggler?" Says one of the officer in the command center.
"Neither, a smuggler isnt as stupid as to get spotted by a WatchSat, and I can tell you that even the craziest of Pogard's Claws (5.) warlords is not mad enough to try and assault this station without a supporting fleet." Says another one giving the first officer an annoyed look.
"They could just be that desperate, for all you know." Says a third officer looking away from his screen. "My bet's with the desperate raiders."
"I'm betting a smuggler, just from the shot of their ship you can see that they're not just some ordinary raiders." Says the first.
"Honestly, you two, can you take this a little more seriously, we have no idea what that ship is, who it belongs to, and what it wants. Just in case, alert the piracy deterrence fleet to be ready for swift action. In the mean time, hail it, maybe they'll want to talk." Says the second officer.
....
Location - Mid rim, of the Nowian border star system "Blanka"
Vessel: Unregistered salvage
Captain (Unofficial) - Jack Soto
Current activity - Currently approaching "Klera" space station.
"We are being hailed." Says Kha'ro as he runs over to the radio station to handle the call.
"Put them through, lets explain it quickly and get those people to the medical center." Says Jack as he straightens his expression.
"Klera command to unidentified vessel, identify yourself and state your business."
"This is unregistered salvage vessel to Klera station, we declare code 37, with many wounded and several in life threatening condition!" Jack's voice rang out with clear and loud urgency.
The officers on the command center exchange looks, the two who betted looked dissapointed, but quickly hid it. The second officer sighed and replied.
"We will need a confirmation from your onboard doctor as well as your personal credentials."
"Sending identification information now... You'll be connected to the sickbay in a minute." Says Jack and sends his credentials.
"Data received, give us a minute..."
"You appear to be registered in Solan space, normaly it wouldnt matter but we are in a state of high alert. Paired with the fact that your ship is not registered, I'm afraid we wont be able to let you in, at least not immediately." Says the officer.
"High alert... Let me guess, its about the strange outburst of energy from the gate as well as the fact that you lost all contact with your border patrol?" Asks Jack.
The officer blinks a few time, not believing what he just heard.
"Do you know anything about it?" He asks with a certain degree of suspition and edge in his tone.
"Of course, after all, we were there when it happened and we've seen everything." Jack says.
"You seem surprisingly calm about sharing this with us." Says the officer.
"Why wouldnt I be? I have nothing to hide." Says Jack.
"Is that so? Then you might be willing to share with us what became of the patrol ships and their crew." Asks the officer in such a maner that it sounds more like an order than a question.
"And who do you think is currenly clinging to life in our sickbay, we managed to save the surviving crew from NPS Namara and escape the explosion of NPS Kerzu's reactor. If you have any other questions we can answer them, after we get those survivors to a better supplied medical facility." Says Jack who is starting get well enough tired of the officer's questioning.
The officer frowns and says.
"I will have to discuss this with my supperior."
"There's no time for that! They will be dead before your discussion ends!" Jack says frustration clear in his voice.
"Alright what is going on here?" The door slides open and Aswind Koloev comes into view. "Permition to enter the bridge?" He asks.
Jack's eyes light up as well as a light bulb inside his head. "Under the current circumstances you dont even need to ask. I'd like your help with this man who seems to be hell bent on delaying us." He says and turns back to the screen.
"Ah, the command center is holding their typical discussion club meeting I see." Says Koloev with mild exasperation as he hobbles forward his broken leg braced with a metal exoskeleton (6.).
"May I?" Asks Koloev as he makes his way to Jack's seat.
"Its yours." Says Jack as he stands and steps asside.
"Captain Aswind Koloev speaking, ID: 4C2S7F, confirming code 37, we request immediate access to the station's docks and medical center." Says Koloev without a moment's hesitation, as he sits down, it is clear to everyone that he knows how to get around here.
"... ID confirmed, fighters will escort you to dry dock 3 (7.), medical teams are on their way." Says the officer his tone quickly changing into an almost a breathless squeak. Without any other delay the comm link between the station and the ship is cut.
"What was that about?" Asks Jack about the change in the officer's tone which havent escaped his ears.
"Eh, thats nothing to worry about, officers aboard this station are mostly clerks who desperately want to get promoted and moved to a more cushy jobs, so when a naval captain or anyone affiliated for that matter requests something, they're suddenly head over heals to oblige. I try not to exploit it... much." Says Koloev with a wry grin on his face.
"Now then pilot, bring us in, there is no time to spare." Says Koloev.
Luca turns around with a risen eyebrow, looking between Jack and Koloev. Untill Jack gives him a nod, upon which he starts working the controls in preparation for the docking manuever.
"Well... my work here is done." Says Koloev clasping his hands together and standing up with a muffled groan. "Im going to be heading back to your sickbay, so that the medics dont have to chase me around your ship, after they fix my leg at the medical center I will meet you back at the dock. After that I'll help you get your ship registered. I owe you that much." Says Koloev as he hobbles away from the chair and out of the door.
"I'm sorry Deimos, but they deserve to know... espetially her." Says Koloev as he hobbles towards the main elevator.
.....
"This is AW-77 to the unregistered salvage, confirm visual contact." The fighter escort has approached the ship and hailed them.
"Visual confirmed, AW-77 we are awaiting instructions." Replies Kha'ro.
"Decelerate to relative zero with the station and await further instructions." Says AW-77.
"We were just about to be doing that anyway..." Says Kha'ro under his breath. "Luca, deceleration, match our speed with the station and stabilise our orbit." Says Kha'ro quickly.
"You got it, just tell the whole ship to hold on to something, I'm still getting the hang of these engines, the throttle is espetially sensitive." Says Luca.
The ship rapidly decelerates causing some vibrations to spread through it.
"AW-77 to unregistered salvage, turn starboard 110° and keep heading, dry dock 3 is open and ready for you arrival."
"Understood... Luca, starboard 110, and straigh ahead, bring us in." Says Kha'ro.
"I heard him." Says Luca as he changes the ship's heading, and slowly accelerates in the new direction.
"I can see the dock, right over there, now just nice and easy..." Luca say and concentrates so that he doesnt lick the dock's door with the ship's hull.
He had some practice with this, because the mining modules needed to be once in a while docked inside of Arborat for repair and maintenance, this time however he was piloting a ship that was double the size of Arborat itself.
.....
As the stern of the ship crossed the threshold, Luca slowed down even more, and deployed the landing gear. As soon as they were above the designated landing zone, Luca stopped the ship completely, and slowly lowered it onto the floor.
"Turning on the magnetic clamps... now..."
He said and pushed the button just as the ship touched the dock's floor.
"Weve landed, the ship is secured." Says Luca.
"Okay, Thomas?" Jack says, and turns to the intercomm.
"Yea?" Thomas responds.
"The ship has landed, turn off the engines." Jack says.
"Got it, oh and Jack..." Says Thomas.
"What is it?" Jack asks.
"Once the dock is pressurised, open the cargo bay door, so that the medical teams from the station have easier access." Says Thomay.
"Okay, will do." Jacks says.
The dock's massive blast doors soon close, and the dock begins to get pressurised. Once this procedute is done, indicated by the lights in the dock turning from yellow to white. Jack opens the cargo door.
When all that is done, the inner doors leading to the station's other facilities open, and like floodgates opening, soon the dock is full of medical personel and transporters, as well as station's security to oversee the whole operation.
The criticaly injured, evacuees were taken away first, most of them in artificialy induced sleep.
Once everyone cleared out, the station's security moved in to inspect the ship for contraband and to log necessary information for registration of the ship.
This all took a few hours, which the crew decided to use to explore the ship properly and find out just what are they really dealing with...
...
(1.) Klera is a spacestation orbiting the Blanka system's star, relatively close to the border Gate with Solan space, the Yggdrasil Expanse.
The station serves as a hub for trade with the Solans as well as a rally point for piracy deterrence fleets which patrol the system, making this system relatively safe, however through hit and run tactics, the occasional trader or hauler ship may find itself under fire.
(2.) Orange juice, is still very much a popular beverage even in the distant future, however cheap orange juice is in fact not made out of actual oranges, instead they are produced in labs with chemicals to simulate the flavor of an orange. Made affordable by the power of science.
If you are rich however you can buy a brand of the orange juice which is produced out of oranges, vat grown, but otherwise genuine.
(3.) Warp drives, while on almost every ship nowadays, when concerning energy, are not cheap to run, these devices require a constant stream of high power input, which can be only provided by a ship's reactor/s.
While some have tried to engineer their way around this to enable a ship to warp jump without their reactor being active, this result in the ship performing worse as it needs to sacrifice more internal space for the capacitors.
Such a ship also cant maintain warp for long, as the energy in the capacitors is drained fairly quickly, resulting in significantly shortened range.
The only advantage this poses is that when the ship emerges from warp, its reactor is not active, reducing the energy emissions making the ship harder to detect by sensors.
(4.) Watchsats, satelites used to observe the system from different stations of the same systems. Think of them as security cameras of space.
(5.) Pogard's Claws. Smuggling, banditry, extortion, kidnapping, murder and drugs. The worse of the worst the Pogard's Claws are a pirate mega syndicate spread far and wide, engaged in all sorts of nasty and very much illegal bussiness.
(6.) Exoskeletons have a wide range of uses, in this case it is used to allow even a person with a broken leg to walk without crutches.
(7.) Dry dock, means a space inside of a station, which can be closed and presurized, allowing for extended maintenance without the need for a spacesuit, or the worry of the dangers of open space. These are also more often than not fitted with equipment necessary for repairs of damaged ship, so not just maintenance, but also repair.