Core Sys Sector LC-M a7-0

49.89 Lightyears from Sol

June 13, 3306 - 19:14 Military Standard Calendar

LC-M a7-0. An interesting designation for a solar system, but it is an automatically named system, after all. Nothing more expected from a Brown Dwarf. How odd that there would be one so close to Sol, without any system data logged in the Extranet. Odder still, that a Federal Battlecruiser, would be in orbit around this failed star. CCS-109X is the official designation for the FNS Everest, an experimental Farragut-class warship, in that the Frame Shift Drive was incorporating a newly discovered element that, oddly enough, has no mass. Of course, it caused scientists all throughout the Bubble to research the strange materiel, and they discovered that it had mass-altering properties.

In other words, it was a magic space rock that made things lighter or heavier based on electromagnetic charge. A positive charge "reduced" mass, and a negative charge "increased it. The element zero, as it has no inherent mass, seems to either ignore the laws of physics or introduce new ones entirely. And it is something that has been found in abundance in this Brown Dwarf System, primarily in the failed star itself.

Which explains the reason behind the Everest being here. It was protecting a small fleet of Type-9s while they skimmed the "star's" corona for the impossible materiel. So far, the best scientists in the Federation had concluded that it was Dark Energy taking form as Periodic matter, but how the Hell that worked, they were as stumped as anyone else. They had, however, managed to modify these transports' fuel scoops to collect Eezo, as the Brass had started to call it, and process it into a solid mass. That was a miracle of itself, but was also slow, until they could learn more about the magic space rock.

As for the usage of Eezo in the Everest's FSD, it was discovered by accident as a Sidewinder had managed to find itself at Jaques Station in a single Hyperspace Jump, despite starting its unintentional journey in LHS 3447. It had turned out that the little Sidewinder that somehow could had its Frame Shift Drive flooded with the exotic materiel, and it had managed to hurtle the tiny vessel nearly 22,000 light years in a matter of seconds. The only reason that this even occurred in the first place, was that the pilot had deactivated the Frame Shift Drive's failsafes.

The pilot was lucky that the HIP 64714 Silver Hawks had invested enough funding in Jaques Station to where it could actually repair and refuel incoming vessels, because the unsafe jump had severely damaged the unshielded little ship and used up the entirety of its fuel, save the half kilolitre in its generator. Imagine the shock of over nine thousand Anaconda pilots when a Sidewinder, of all ships, was found so far away from the Bubble. Priceless.

And so, in the name of Science, several Capital ships, with their already impressive Jump range of about 100 light years, were outfitted with these experimental Drives, and were soon easily capable of jumping to the Route-plotting software's maximum range of 1,000 light years using only 13.6 tons of fuel, on average. After perfecting this technology, and finding a way to efficiently procure, and possibly create, more Eezo, Travel time would be significantly reduced, and Jaques Station could be fully realized at a fraction of the original cost.

But wait, there's more. A recent terrorist attack on Mars had revealed alien ruins, and the fact that pirates had the gall to attack Sol was almost totally ignored in favor of scientific pursuit. And while no one aboard the Everest knew in great detail, the vessel's commander, Rear Admiral Geralt Williams, knew that the ruins on Mars contained an artifact that held a large sum of knowledge, and was established by an extinct race called Protheans. Exactly what they looked like was unknown, but the latest data, other than facility activation records, dated back to just over 50,000 years.

That, and as his daughter Melissa, had told him that something bad had happened those fifty thousand years ago. Dr. Williams had discovered that these records and the age of the rock layers of Mars were a tad coincidental. And so, even if there was a definitive connection, scientists were left wondering as to what relevance the Martian stone had to the evident disappearance of the Protheans, and speculation had only concluded that either a cataclysmic event took place there, or the Protheans had an enemy that was so powerful, that it would strip away the very skin of the planet, just to exterminate them.

Which begged the question: why? Why kill off an entire civilization? Why leave traces of said civilization behind, if you were willing to basically destroy the planet to wipe them out? Admiral Williams only sighed, his gaze falling on the Brown Dwarf they were in orbit around. He was a sailor; his job was to protect the Federation and fight pirates, not speculate of things not his area of expertise. That was something best left to his daughter.

"Element Zero procurement complete," his communications officer, Lieutenant Kurita, called out. "All Type-9 Heavies are prepped and ready for Frame Shift, on your mark."

Admiral Williams nodded, "Good. Ensign Kelso, set a direct drop for Mars, Eos Chasma."

"Aye aye, Admiral. Setting Frame Shift direct drop plan now," Navigations reported back. "Transmitting to all Type-9s...Done."

"All transports reading green for H-Jump, sir. On your mark," Communications added.

Williams nodded, "Ready...Mark!" The usual pressure of a Frame Shift grew steadily as the Drive spooled up, and exactly seven point five one seconds after the order was given, the Everest made the jump back to Sol. Because of the Cradle of Humanity's proximity to their current location, it was simple enough for Ensign Kelso, with the help of the ship's AI, to fully calculate the trajectory and fuel consumption, then triple check everything twice before jumping.

Obviously, it worked just fine, and the crew of the Everest found themselves looking at the Red Planet with Deimos just in view of the bridge. They were a safe distance away, at ten megametres, so the Martian satellite was naught but a grey smudge on the display. "Status report."

"All systems green, and the transports all made it back in one piece. Well, not one piece, they didn't merge into a megazord, or whatever. They're all fine, and reading just as viridian as we are!" Everest's AI, Carlton, spoke up for the first time on this mission. Which was odd, as the Artificial Intelligence never really stopped talking outside of combat.

Admiral Williams decided to make note of this. "And to think that I was beginning to like the silence."

The AI materialized on the holotank in the middle of the bridge, taking the appearance of a young man with a flat top haircut, thin moustache, striped button-up shirt and shorts with a towel draped over his shoulders, and jogging shoes on his holographic feet. "Nah, you missed me. Admit it."

"Care to explain?" Williams hoped that his digital friend wasn't going rampant. That was something that rarely occurred, thanks to innovations in 3278 for the AI creation process, but like all things, it had its flaws.

"Oh, I was just reviewing the info-dump Tony gave me to help decipher. It took all my primary processes to break the encryptions and then translate it into English. And it's a lot of information on Element Zero, and our new friends," Carlton flipped one end of his towel over the shoulder.

Williams just nodded, keeping the concern off of his face. "You can tell me all about it later. Let's just check in with HIGHCOM."

Carlton dissipated his avatar, "Will do, boss."

Eol Prou RS-T d3-94 - Ocellus ID 80 DD-D 774-CE-2

22,000.47 Lightyears from Sol

June 13, 3306 - 23:19 Military Standard Calendar

Jaques Station drifted in the midst of a soft, violet nebula, the aubergine lighting an excellent backdrop for the spherical starport. The unique Ocellus-class starport was unique, only in its sheer distance from the Human Bubble and that it was slightly different from other Ocellus stations. This difference being a station-sized shield generator, which helped to disperse the odd neutrino storms that would occasionally hit the station, what with four of its Brown Dwarf's neighbors were Neutron Stars at less than three light years distant. While these neutrino storms were beautiful, especially when they fused with the surrounding nebula, they were no less deadly, and pilots both incoming and outgoing were given a forecast of the next two years for these storms.

Jaques Station's primary objective was to act as a long distance hub for explorers searching for Barnacles, but that wasn't always the case. Originally, Jaques Station was to head to the Milky Way's Beagle Point, but that changed when several artifacts of unknown origin interfered with the Witch Space envelope, and was forced to enter high orbit around the ice-ringed gas giant in that system. Now, it served as a forward research base on Neutron Stars, something that served to bring in quite a bit of funding and donations from some of the larger factions.

Silver Hawks Incorporated was one such faction, being based in an out of the way system called HIP 64714. Over the past four years, they were the premiere donors to Jaques Station, and it had allowed them to play Home Base to many of the Elite Explorers. Particularly after the Silver Hawks had commissioned a repair cradle for Capital ships in addition to regular repair bays in the hanger, and refueling tanks for outgoing starships, like the gas-guzzling Anacondas that more than eighty percent of the nine thousand plus Jaques Regulars favored.

A klaxon went off in the Flight Control Centre aboard the Ocellus starport, and Lieutenant Commander Ivanova rolled her eyes. The station's various cameras showed hundreds of gorgeous views looking out at the surrounding space. One in particular, looking out at the extended Anchor cradle, had managed to catch the emergence of a Farragut battlecruiser from Supercruise. It, in an incredible display of pure skill and raw luck, came out perfectly aligned for the cradle's mooring clamps.

Ivanova knew which vessel it was without even needing to look at the credentials they had sent immediately after dropping out of Frame Shift. The FAS Silverhawk, the capital ship of the Silver Hawks and the only Farragut battlecruiser in the Federal Navy Auxiliary. It had been wrested from a pirate faction three years earlier, and the Federation had allowed them to keep it. A pleasant coincidence, that its name was the same as the organization that recaptured it. Apparently, the Silver Hawks' leader, Vice Admiral Clint Revolo, had been the Fighter Wing Commander on that ship.

"Welcome back, Silverhawk. You are cleared for docking," Ivanova called out over the command channel.

"Much obliged, Susan. We are once again, in your debt, oh glorious Dockmaster." Of course he had Kofbel with him.

She keyed the mic, "Shut up, Elias. Last I checked, you still owe me thirty creds."

"Meet me at Mac's when you get off, I'm buying!" the line the cut out as the automated network shunted the Silverhawk's AI, Bison, into priority so that he could fully port on the station.

"You'd better," she muttered under her breath. She returned to her duties after the transmission was ended, and for some odd reason, she could not be finished with the day fast enough. Normally, she enjoyed her work so much that she once refused sleep so she could sort out a miscommunication between two Anaconda pilots who thought that they could fit through the mail slot at the same time.

...Okay, perhaps "enjoyed" was an exaggeration, but her words that day would forever become the Jaques Station Mantra.

Sol - Earth

Hubble II Orbital Telescope

June 14 3306 - 00:12 Military Standard Time

Doctor Takayoshi Fuchida readjusted his glasses before grabbing the mug of coffee on his desk and carefully sipped at it, being careful not to take his eyes off of the visual display. Half an hour ago, Hubble II had picked up some acute readings on a particular nebula that had been relatively unseen, about fifty thousand light years distant. The sensors were picking up some severely decayed neutrinos, and Dr. Fuchida decided to pause the full distance scan test, and focus the kilometre-wide lens of the second Hubble on that one specific spot.

The reasoning behind building such an enormous telescope was simple: we could potentially see ancient alien life. Hubble II's commissioning in 3106 was an attempt to be able to focus solely on exoplanets that had Barnacles on them, in the hopes that those thousands of years ago, we might be able to witness their creators in action. Of course, logistics were a problem, and it actually took the blunt mind of a fighter pilot to help solve their biggest problem; the lens itself.

It also helped to revolutionize energy shielding with the introduction of the Bi-Weave Generator, which would recharge almost instantly after being struck. It was perfect for the massive lens, and powering it with an upgraded starport fusion core allowed it to withstand the equivalent of forty-eight kilotons of TNT without so much as flickering. Being the most important part of the station, the localized Bi-Weave had its personal generator, while the rest of the station relied on an identical secondary and tertiary with Capital-class Standard shielding.

The next two hundred years would bring massive improvements on just about everything, and Hubble II's FARSCAPE program could be fully realized: the imaging of a planet's surface from tens of thousands of light years away.

And now with the discovery of the Prothean Archives on Mars three months ago, researchers were looking into spectrographic visualization of the Dark Energy gone Periodic Matter, and Einstein's Greatest Blunder was finally being studied. It was a massive leap forward in science, and Takayoshi would be a part of that.

The monitors bleeped loudly, indicating an unexpected anomalous occurrence, and the doctor turned to the screen indicating Red- and Blueshift fluctuations. His eyes widened to the size of dinner plates as blueshift readings skyrocketed, indicating the sudden appearance of a large enough mass to register. Fuchida went back to the visual monitors, and watched as the nebula currently on screen had several hundred new light markers. The neutrino levels also changed dramatically, dropping before stabilizing so quickly, only an incredibly precise and redundant monitoring system could detect it.

Hubble II was one such system.

Doctor Fuchida refocused the lens, shifting the alignment of the mirrors by fractions of nanometres until the shapes could be seen more clearly. Image recognition software detected more than eight thousand metallic objects in the frame, two being significantly larger than the rest. The first of the two was anywhere between thirty and fifty kilometres with a 22% margin of error, and the second was roughly the size of the Hubble II. This software had only served to excite the good doctor keeping watch on it, as this was the most precise they could image at excess of fifty thousand light years!

The rest of the thousands of objects ranged between too small to be clear, yet just large enough to be found, and three kilometres. Soon enough, these numbers began to drop like flies, and were accompanied by acute neutrino bursts and miniscule, almost invisible light flashes that usually meant a fusion generator going critical. Fuchida no longer felt excited to bear witness to such an event.

He was watching two ancient, alien civilizations, war with one another. He was watching an extermination. Suddenly, this revelation was joined by the reports taken by the Martian research teams at the Prothean Archives, and it started to make a frightening amount of sense. Fuchida had found what he was looking for; alien life. He also found that same alien life engulfed in a fervent battle, and judging by the time frame, the Protheans were one of the races fighting.

And they were losing. They had lost.