"Yes sir!" The comms stated as she tried connecting with the Spear of Tounder Storm. "It will take us around an hour, maybe two, to reach Spear." Naomi reported as she was leaning over the helm's control seat. "Shall we take curse, Captain?" "Pilot Akira is on her way to the shuttle!" HUM 31 reported
"Ugh~" Saffrona heard Gavona's moan... "Hah... shit." Threre was a pause. "Helm... status... controls down." she reported as she started typing inputs to the console in front of her. The captain could see some of her crew getting up... some staying where they fell. "Comms... down." ORMO 2 reported as the conscious security guard walked to one of the unconscious clones to check on her.
“Exploration.” Victoria decided without hesitation. “The Mendeleyev is better equipped for investigating the anomaly, plus the Aurora won't be of much help in a fight, if it comes to it. Therefor we shall take over exploring the system.” She turned to one of the whores... er, clones... present. “Send a message to the Mendeleyev and to the rest of the fleet, informing them what we will be doing.”
As she entered the shuttle, one of the clones handed her a marine hermetic suit. As the shuttle took of, the pilot's voice sounded through the comms. "Captain. Asena reports, that they lost contact with Spear of Tounder Storm." ORMO reported, as the shuttle came closer to the wreckage.
"Urg! My poor head..." Saffrona said to herself, getting herself back on the feet. That is looking bad, but they still have some job to do. "Then make it works again! Turn on reserve reactor or find way to fix it!" She said command and look around the clones. "Scan the area outside the ship, I want to know if that was attack or just force of nature! I'm going to check other ORMO and Solstice. Everyone conscious, get ready personal weapons, we could be abordet by enemy. And bring back comunication!" She order putting on her helmet and turning on scaners as she walk with rifle ready.
"Attempt to reengage contact. Test if our comms are working with the rest of the fleet." She was no expert, but there shouldn't be a reason for the difficulty on their end, so she had to imagine the Storm was going dark, but it was hard to think about their status while potentially focused on theirs. Seeing the wreckage, she still wasn't clear on what they were looking for. Turning to the strike team, she gave a quick briefing on how they'd move. "Stay as a unit. Sweep rooms carefully. Check your corners."
‘Yes, set course immediately, we have no time to lose,’ Captain Cherenkov ordered Naomi and the rest of his crew.
"Yes, Ma'am!" Patricia sair, then turned to face the bridge. "Helm! Curse to the system! Comms! Pass connect us with Mendeleyev!" "Yes sir!" The Helm said as she started moving her fingers over the console. "Curse plotted and set!" "Captain! We are receiving a communication from Aurora!" Comms reported.
"Yes captain!" Ormo 2 said as she left the bridge. She stepped outside with her rifle ready, only to walk on ORMO laying on the ground.
‘Good, let’s get going, maximum velocity, helm,’ the captain ordered, ‘Comms, put that message through. Let’s see what the “Aurora” has to report.’ Did we completely miscalculate our initial split of forces? Andrey wondered, Let’s find out what this anomaly is.
The shuttle manoeuvred, and the spotlights turned on. "Captain! I can see wreckage's name... it's in common... RINS Nightfall." The pilot reported. Spoiler: knowledge 93 - great success Klara quickly made the connection - RINS - Respen Imperial Navy's Spaceship Nightfall. It was Respen's Empire ship...
“Captain Cherenkov, your ship seems better equipped for investigating the anomaly, so we will leave it to you. In the mean time the Aurora will take the Mendeleyev's place in exploring the system, so as to not waste unnecessary time. If you have any useful data about the system please send it over.” Victoria requested as soon as the connection was established.
Saffrona take a look at ORMO, checking if the clone is still breathing and looking for more concious clones in the area. She tried to wake her up, to gareth as much men power as she could.
"It's a Respen Imperial Navy ship." She wondered about that. Was it common for them to be out there? She tried to recall their history a bit while they proceeded to search through the ship.
‘That is very proactive of you, Captain Victoria, I welcome your initiative, as we are already en-route to the anomaly. We’re transmitting all the information we were able to gather as of this moment,’ Captain Cherenkov replied to the message from the Aurora. The data was transmitted almost immediately afterwards: 1st planet - close to the sun, high temperature on the surface. Possible minerals deposit. 2nd planet - atmosphere present. Required probe and scans for more data. 3rd planet - atmosphere present - strong storms cover the surface - over 100 km per hour, sometimes more. We would need to use either probe or descend into the atmosphere to get better scans.
“Thank you, Captain Cherenkov. We shall proceed to investigate the planets as soon as we are able. Good luck with the anomaly. Aurora out!” Victoria wished her fellow captain luck and the transmission was terminated. “We shall begin by investigating the second planet – so far it seems like the best place to set up a permanent base of operations. The first planet is too close to the sun, though if it has mineral deposits it might be worth setting up a mining outpost there later. As for the third planet, the strong storms will make things difficult for us, both when scanning and when trying to set up base. Thus we shall begin with the second planet. Take us there!” Victoria issued her orders after reading the data they had received from the Mendeleyev.
As Saffrona knelt next to the clone and checked on her, she realised that the woman was breathing... but was uncouncious.
Respen Empire was a nation bordering the Federation. The two nations were in war two times - last conflict taking place around 30 years ago. Since then, the relations were slowly getting better, and while still strained, they were not as cold as they used to be. "The ship is destroyer sized..." The pilot said "Should we dock with the stern part or bow part?" she asked.
As the connection broke, Naomi turned to Captain. "Estimated time of arrival - one hour, fifty seven minutes."
"Yes Ma'am!" The helm reported. "Estimated arrival time - seventy eight minutes." Patricia walked behind Victoria. "What do you except to find there, Captain?"
