Without a doubt the scariest thing for Veriasse, while living in Anoikis, was the sheer disconnection. Suddenly thousands of background channels and streams disappeared, the cacophony of civilization quieted by the harsh tyranny of true isolation. The only chatter here was amongst the handful of capsuleers who now staked claim to the far flung solar system - contrasting against the silence made the singular voices both piercingly loud and ominously dominant. Without the overwhelming white noise that all capsuleers filtered when amongst the empires, space felt almost as big as it truly was.
He never had to admit such things to any living being, nor did he, but the introspective nature of the pod pilot made him confront that fact before his trip had even gone half its duration. Anoikis, wormhole space, the domain of the Sleepers, wherever it truly is... stirred a number of feelings within Veri. Only a few could be described as negative, and by far the strongest of all was curiosity. Who were these beings, what was going on, and how did it all connect to New Eden? No answers were found, but pieces of this immense puzzle were quietly and carefully collected by Veriasse while the Imperative explored their temporary home.
The timing was right; the corporation could afford the downtime from sales and the chemists had been begging for an opportunity to review their processes and retool the laboratories. There were always improvements to be made, and the scientists working for the Imperative were amongst the best that humanity had to offer. Several months were carefully planned for, logistics organized, and infrastructure to support the influx of new capsuleers amassed. The Imperative has had elements in Anoikis for a long time now, and we were partnering up with them to further exploit opportunities they couldn't handle alone.
Research and exploration is ongoing, and unsurprisingly the results are far beyond the purview of even many highly ranked operatives of the Imperative. Knowledge is power, as the saying goes, and without a doubt much of the information gleaned from the secrets found in that deep space frontier has been filtering into the labs and facilities of Imperative science teams in New Eden. Veriasse no longer concerned himself with these musings however, as the return of the corporation from Anoikis heralded a surge in activity.
Production had stockpiled an impressive supply of boosters, shipments of which began their journeys across space even before the full return of the corporation's capsuleers. The caretakers who had remained behind were not idle; within hours Veriasse had already signed a deal with a contact and piloted his vessel, a Dramiel class frigate named Incisor, to the pick up location. Life was good, and the idle chatter of endless voices a soothing reminder that others existed here.
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Friday, December 9, 2011
Chapter 1.6 - "Frontiers"
"Site 3-7 has picked up again, Command wants you to go check it out."
Within ten seconds all six blips on the comm officer's screen elongated into trails, the viewscreen automatically zooming out to match the increased speed of the capsuleer vessels. In warp enroute to Site 3-7, the capsuleer vessels were hybrid technology. Built from many of the treasures extracted from the various ruins and complexes floating around, T3 ships were amongst the most advanced in New Eden.
The capsuleers rarely responded to the comm signals from Fleet Command. It was unnecessary, adding distraction to already confusing moments. The officer quietly monitored all the active channels and the broadcast screen from the fleet's vessels. It was rare anything malfunctioned.
"Command, check signal integrity. We have been experiencing some feedback across all bands."
The officer's eyes widened... quickly running through the various system status displays there was nothing out of ordinary. He keyed up the combat diagnostic routines, speedy tests designed to reboot comm systems in the middle of a firefight. Seconds later they came back negative; the officer felt a heavy pit form at the base of his stomach.
"Command this is Comms, we can't pinpoint any disturbances. We are expanding our diagnostics..."
His calm voice did not betray the frantic tapping his fingers were doing on the keys in front of him. The comm systems of the fleet were upgraded prior to their departure. Knowledge and experience from an early forward recon team who secured the wormhole was invaluable in tailoring the ships of the fleet to handle the challenges of the unknown solar system.
One such upgrade was to the communications system, enhanced with various new data buffers and protocols aimed at cracking or interacting with the Sleeper civilization. One such protocol was to be able to receive trinary-coded data. A Jovian protocol, this was a particular piece of technology we received from our partnership with Impro.
As the comms officer activated the trinary data processing software he was suddenly shocked to see a massive wall of undecipherable text and numbers scroll across his display. The power of the trinary signal was intensifying, and although there was no known way to interpret the data he received the officer instinctively knew that such a massive data transfer meant only one thing; activity.
"Command, I think the Sleepers are no longer sleeping.. we are being bombarded by a massive amount of trinary data from all sides, it seems to be originating from within the system but its so strong we can't pinpoint the original signal."
"Roger that Comms. Fleet, return to the anchorage. Recon, find out where these drone bastards are. Last time we got taken by surprise we lost three vessels, that won't happen again!"
Within ten seconds all six blips on the comm officer's screen elongated into trails, the viewscreen automatically zooming out to match the increased speed of the capsuleer vessels. In warp enroute to Site 3-7, the capsuleer vessels were hybrid technology. Built from many of the treasures extracted from the various ruins and complexes floating around, T3 ships were amongst the most advanced in New Eden.
The capsuleers rarely responded to the comm signals from Fleet Command. It was unnecessary, adding distraction to already confusing moments. The officer quietly monitored all the active channels and the broadcast screen from the fleet's vessels. It was rare anything malfunctioned.
"Command, check signal integrity. We have been experiencing some feedback across all bands."
The officer's eyes widened... quickly running through the various system status displays there was nothing out of ordinary. He keyed up the combat diagnostic routines, speedy tests designed to reboot comm systems in the middle of a firefight. Seconds later they came back negative; the officer felt a heavy pit form at the base of his stomach.
"Command this is Comms, we can't pinpoint any disturbances. We are expanding our diagnostics..."
His calm voice did not betray the frantic tapping his fingers were doing on the keys in front of him. The comm systems of the fleet were upgraded prior to their departure. Knowledge and experience from an early forward recon team who secured the wormhole was invaluable in tailoring the ships of the fleet to handle the challenges of the unknown solar system.
One such upgrade was to the communications system, enhanced with various new data buffers and protocols aimed at cracking or interacting with the Sleeper civilization. One such protocol was to be able to receive trinary-coded data. A Jovian protocol, this was a particular piece of technology we received from our partnership with Impro.
As the comms officer activated the trinary data processing software he was suddenly shocked to see a massive wall of undecipherable text and numbers scroll across his display. The power of the trinary signal was intensifying, and although there was no known way to interpret the data he received the officer instinctively knew that such a massive data transfer meant only one thing; activity.
"Command, I think the Sleepers are no longer sleeping.. we are being bombarded by a massive amount of trinary data from all sides, it seems to be originating from within the system but its so strong we can't pinpoint the original signal."
"Roger that Comms. Fleet, return to the anchorage. Recon, find out where these drone bastards are. Last time we got taken by surprise we lost three vessels, that won't happen again!"
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Chapter 1.5 - "Internal Workings"
"...supplies of Pure Drop have increased by 17%. That'll give us enough headroom to get some extra production time on X-Instinct to make up for that burst of sales."
The three other men and two women around the table all nodded their heads. Such mundane affairs were important but common place. The reactor team of the corporation was immensely knowledgeable and firmly in control of the production schedule. The managers had only to sign off on the process as usual.
"Dr. Juun'shisai, please inform Drs. Goyuam and Ristuk that we need to make some changes to the schedule. Our capsuleers are going off the grid for a time... and the boss has left us with some tasks in their absence."
"Uh, certainly. I will ensure the message is received."
"Good, good. Basically, Dr... we are going to begin real production. We've been whittled off our mountain, chipped away at by small time gangs and bored billionaires. It is time to reclaim our rightful place, to return to being the only drug game in town. The boss, and the founder, and the directors... they all want this done. You know what that means."
"Uhmm, yes sir, I do. But, we have been keeping the reactors above 90% efficiency. I assume there is a capital budget..?"
"Correct. Construction won't begin for some months... not until the capsuleers return from their mission. In the interim, we are going to stockpile raw materials. We aren't privy to their thoughts, but there is something big coming down the pipe. They are expecting to increase sales and market share by a considerable margin. We think it has something to do with some insider knowledge from CONCORD, but ultimately that line of inquiry is irrelevant. Suffice it to say, Dr., but the reactor team has its work cut out for it."
"Yes sir, I understand."
Dr. Juun'shisai jerked forward, almost as if snapping out of some unseen grasp. He walked toward the table where the five figures were seated and picked up the data key sitting on his side of it. He clutched it tightly and dropped it into a self-sealing pocket inside his coat.
"Dr., this directive is perhaps the most important thing to happen to Es and Whizz in years. We can't fail the capsuleers, you know what can happen should that occur."
The doctor nodded, swallowing visibly and slowly. He turned and walked out of the darkened room and into the dimly lit metal corridor. His steps echoed down the hallway before the sliding door silently cut them off.
The three other men and two women around the table all nodded their heads. Such mundane affairs were important but common place. The reactor team of the corporation was immensely knowledgeable and firmly in control of the production schedule. The managers had only to sign off on the process as usual.
"Dr. Juun'shisai, please inform Drs. Goyuam and Ristuk that we need to make some changes to the schedule. Our capsuleers are going off the grid for a time... and the boss has left us with some tasks in their absence."
"Uh, certainly. I will ensure the message is received."
"Good, good. Basically, Dr... we are going to begin real production. We've been whittled off our mountain, chipped away at by small time gangs and bored billionaires. It is time to reclaim our rightful place, to return to being the only drug game in town. The boss, and the founder, and the directors... they all want this done. You know what that means."
"Uhmm, yes sir, I do. But, we have been keeping the reactors above 90% efficiency. I assume there is a capital budget..?"
"Correct. Construction won't begin for some months... not until the capsuleers return from their mission. In the interim, we are going to stockpile raw materials. We aren't privy to their thoughts, but there is something big coming down the pipe. They are expecting to increase sales and market share by a considerable margin. We think it has something to do with some insider knowledge from CONCORD, but ultimately that line of inquiry is irrelevant. Suffice it to say, Dr., but the reactor team has its work cut out for it."
"Yes sir, I understand."
Dr. Juun'shisai jerked forward, almost as if snapping out of some unseen grasp. He walked toward the table where the five figures were seated and picked up the data key sitting on his side of it. He clutched it tightly and dropped it into a self-sealing pocket inside his coat.
"Dr., this directive is perhaps the most important thing to happen to Es and Whizz in years. We can't fail the capsuleers, you know what can happen should that occur."
The doctor nodded, swallowing visibly and slowly. He turned and walked out of the darkened room and into the dimly lit metal corridor. His steps echoed down the hallway before the sliding door silently cut them off.
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