Depolarization

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Metallinauts
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Depolarization

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TIV Tiberius, Kronos Class Temporal Dreadnought

"Ma'am all clear in this sector" a voice on the bridge indicated to Commander Lilith Reynolds.

"Very well, take us into the next sector" Reynolds said drolly. "Begin the scan process there. Notify me if anything changes I will be in my ready room" she said while standing up and straightening her uniform.

She walked in to her ready room and gazed out into the stars. It's funny how you don't miss them until they're gone she mused to herself. She heard the doors to the room open behind her and saw her first mate's reflection in the star field.

"Commander, what exactly are we looking for out here" the young man inquired.

"I am not at liberty to disclose that lieutenant" she said with out turning around.

"Ma'am with all due respect we have been sweeping every sector of the known multiverse for the last 19 standard weeks. We have had no word from command, and you are not being helpful in easing the minds of the crew" the lieutenant said walking away from the door. "Ma'am I have friends on the Dauntless, Harbinger and the Joyner. They tell me that their current patrol is exactly what ours is. Those are not mere science vessels. That makes at least 4 heavy warships out looking for something, but their commanding officers are being as tight lipped as you are ma'am" he said, now standing right next to Reynolds looking out into space, "there is something big going on isn't there" he inquired.

Continuing her gaze out into space the captain merely repeated, "I am not at liberty to disclose that".

"Damn it all Commander" the lieutenant said turning to face his superior, "the crew is scared. This mission is shrouded in too much secrecy. You at least owe your commanding staff an explanation so we can ease the crews fears"

Several uncomfortable silent moments passed as Reynolds continued to stare out into space. "They really are quite remarkable aren't they" she said whimsically.

The lieutenant's anger was mixed with confusion, "What are remarkable".

"Stars. Our ancestors looked out and saw divine beings and the souls of the dead. Then our more recent ancestors revealed them to be enormous balls of burning gas" she chuckled, "yet this knowledge has not taken their beauty"

"Ma'am with all due respect this is not the time for poetic notions on stars" the lieutenant said in disbelief at his Commander's unusual behavior. "Fine, if you wish to consider the matter resolved I will return to the bridge" he said. After saluting Reynolds he turned on his heal and returned to the bridge.

Back out on the bridge the command staff was waiting with bated breath. They wanted to know what the lieutenant learned. "Everyone back to work" he snapped slumping into his chair. Something major was going on, and it was not good.

After an hour had passed the Commander's voice was on the comm, "Lieutenant Horner, please report to the ready room.

The bridge staff looked at the lieutenant as he stood from his post and walked into the room.

"Lieutenant, I have been in touch with Temporal High Command" Reynolds said. "I have been cleared to inform you of the bare bones of our mission" the Commander said.

"Six months ago we had a rather large temporal ping" Reynolds said activating a holo-display.

"What kind of ping would have the THC up-in-arms like this?" Horner asked.

"A clone ping" the commander said, indicating on the temporal spectrum where the event occurred.

“But in the academy they said that a clone of an STC signature is purely hypothetical. It was the ramblings of some delusional scientist or some such� the lieutenant said in disbelief.

“Yes, Professor Emil Sky. His work was suppressed by the THC, cadets only learn the tip of the iceberg when it comes to his work� the commander said, “his theories were, quite radical. Yet the math added up. He stated that with all of our experiments we were doing unforeseen damage to the STC, even to 001. He said that relying on her would lead to trouble�

“Why would relying on an AI to monitor the STC be problematic� Horner inquired.

“Because an AI is still a computer, computers are fallible to their programming. He might not be able to detect something that is out there if she is not programmed to look for it� the commander said.

“You sound like you agree with him ma’am� Horner said looking at his commander.

“I do. Maybe not about the whole unforeseeable repercussions issue; but I do agree with him about 001. I don’t trust a computer that is doing a job that a sentient can do. AIs have no instincts, they can’t feel the answers in situations. They can only process logically and mathematically the ‘correct’ answer� Reynolds confided in her lieutenant.
“What happened to Sky� Lieutenant Horner inquired.

“Nobody knows. Last anyone saw of him he claimed that he knew the exact date of the fall of our people and the multiverse. He had come across some sort of doomsday scenario equation. He tried to bring it before the THC. They of course refused to even see him. So he took more...� she paused, “drastic measures�

“What did he do� Horner was now intrigued.

“He broke into the 001 compound and attempted to upload his equation into her processing unit. He was stopped and taken before a special tribunal. He was not even permitted to defend himself. He was cast out of our society, forced to wander the stars until death for ‘crimes against the STC’. That was they called it� there was a little anger in Reynolds voice.

“You sound like you are unhappy with the way that played out� Horner commented.

“Yes I am. What was the harm in uploading the equation? The High Command is so pompous. They feel as if they and they alone know everything� the commander spouted angrily.

“Commander, what was the ping of� Horner said changing the subject for the sake of Reynolds’ career.

Looking at her lieutenant, she said “Which one�.

“You said there was only one� he said confused.

“We are assigned to find one yes, but there were three� Reynolds said walking over to her desk to pour herself a drink, she looked at how little of the Scotch was left and decided to pour the lieutenant a glass.

Reaching out and taking his glass the lieutenant asked, “What were the signals ma’am�

Reynolds swished the liquor about in he glass for a moment before answering, she did not think her lieutenant would believe her if she told him. “One was the Tiberius, one the Asgard and one was unidentifiable� she said.

“Un identifiable� Horner asked after taking a sip.

“Yes, but the energy pattern most resembled the Equinox� she said gulping down all that was in her glass.

“You cannot be serious� the lieutenant said, also gulping down the liquor in disbelief.

“It is like the Equinox but more powerful.; the t-rads are off the charts. It’s as if…� she trailed off.

“What� Horner asked.

“Nothing, never mind; forget I said anything� the commander said.

Their conversation was interrupted by a blare over the comm, “Commander to the bridge�

Both the Commander and the Lieutenant looked at each other before they left the ready room. They knew what this must be.

The scene in the bridge was like a ghost town. The air was still and nobody said a word.

“There is an unknown vessel roughly three tenths of a light year from our current position� a voice from the science station said.

“T-rad readings� Reynolds inquired.

“None ma’am it would appear this vessel has no temporal capability� the man replied.

“Take us in and broadcast to them who and what we are� Commander Reynolds ordered.
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Telros
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Re: Depolarization

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ECS Doubtful, Intruder-class frigate, Sector: Unknown

The Doubtful was one of the many Intruder-class frigates currently in use by the Exchani Corporation, the business which had taken over the trappings of the failed Republic and met considerable success. The Exchani Corporation was always looking into new areas to explore into for profit. Asteroid belts and dead planets for metals and gases, abnormalities to study for new technologies and understanding of the universe, and to simply document space so they could sell off maps to bumbling colonization fleets. All in all, exploring the stars should have been simple, right? Well, as the captain of this particular vessel had discovered, it was not always that simple.

Captain Lynn Andrews stood in on the bridge, gazing out at the empty space surrounding her ship with frustrated patience. She didn't know why out of all the possible frigate captains, they had to pick her. They could have picked anyone for this assignment, no matter how possible history-breaking it could be. She glanced at the data streaming in from the sensors. About two days ago, Exchani border sensor arrays had picked up a massive signal of unknown origin in this system. It's type and structure was beyond anything ever seen before and it had defied every attempt by the Corporation to break its code or give up any kind of data aside from location. So, the higher-ups had sent word for a ship to be sent. Since it was too expensive to send a small battlegroup, they felt sending a single frigate would be fine. It could call for reinforcements if things got hairy and if it was lost, it wouldn't cost as much as the initial battle group would have been, and they would be able to a large force to find out what was going on. Lynn grumbled to herself again and then spoke up.

"Anything new on the sensors, Ensign?"

Ensign Thomas Crawson looked over the data and repressed the urge to swear at it. He knew the Captain didn't like them swearing...unless the situation required all of them to be bawling out curse words. Sighing, he turned to her. "There's nothing new, Captain. The signal keeps rapidly changing, but its fairly solidified into a fair structure. As far we saw when we first came out here, the signal came from here but there's nothing we can get from it, despite its immense size."

The Captain rubbed her forehead. "Alright then. Keep the sensors on it but deploy some sensor drones, and have them give me some scans on the system. Maybe something happened here to cause it and its on one of the planets."

"Aye aye ma'am." He inputted the command for the drones to launch and several oval-esque devices shot from tubes on the hull, and turned into pinpricks of light as their engines came online. Their extensive, and expensive, sensor suites came online and they split according to the computer's orders, sending them to their own section of the system to bring in data. Space rippled invisibly as their sensor scans moved across empty space, floating rock and entire planets. After several moments, they began to send in the first packets of information and Thomas began to look it over, still grumbling. What he saw sharpened his focus soon enough, however.

"Captain, I got something here you need to see."

Lynn started from her seat, her eyes focused and at attention. She got up and walked over to the screen. "Show me, Ensign."

He typed in a command and revealed the data coming in, and showed two columns with the exact same data. She frowned, trying to understand it.

"Mind translating this into English for me, Ensign? I know this isn't supposed to happen but it looks fairly basic."

He shook his head. "Not so, ma'am. We are reading two of everything in this system ma'am. Two of every planet, dust particle, asteroid, everything. And the planets themselves even have the exact same composition."

She stared at the screen like it was a snake. "How in the hell can there be two of everything? That doesn't fit the laws of-"

BRRRRANG!

The entry alarm sounded and the entire bridge crew looked up. The main screen flickered to show a massive ship coming in towards them. Lynn instantly kicked into combat mode. She ran to her chair as she shouted orders. "Bring up shields and weapons; Navigation, get some coordinates to get us out of here. We can't fight that thing. Dammit, can anyone tell me how the hell something THAT BIG snuck up on us?"

The sensor officer was rapidly trying to input orders. "The distortion caused by our proximity to the signal has been interfering with our sensors, the computer thought it was reading a simple anomaly caused by colliding mass shadows." As the ship powered up and began to ready fighters, the message from the ship finally came in, as it watched the now activated and panicked frigate.

"Ma'am, incoming message from the unknown ship. Shall I put it up?"

She glared at the officer. "Of COURSE, put it up! I don't want to make them angry."

The message flashed up and she blinked. "This is the TIV Tiberius, Kronos Class Temporal Dreadnought of the Metallnauti Navy? Whom the hell are these guards? Comm, get me a channel with them."

"Channel secured, ma'am."

"Tiberius, this is the ECS Doubtful of the Exchani Corporation. You gave me a hell of a scare. May I ask what in the name of God you guys are doing here with that chunk of doom?"
Pyramid Facehugger would be fucking brutal. I don't know if I'll ever get to sleep with the thought of that genocidal rape behemoth rampaging through the large-eyed schoolgirls swimming in a sea of biceps that populate my subconscious.


Oh you're starving? WELL FUCK YOU THEN, HADUKEN!
-- Proof that the Old Testament God was a dick.
Metallinauts
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Re: Depolarization

Post by Metallinauts »

"Captain I am Commander Lilith Reynolds. I assure that we mean you no harm, if we did you would have never seen it coming" the Captain said in a reassuring tone.

The Science officer in the back of the room noticed that the readings of the system were doubling up. "Captain we have a situation" he said as various alarms began to sound.

"On screen" Reynolds said calmly.

On the view screen asteroids began to appear where other asteroids were, identical planets began to collide into each other and then worst of all, an identical sun poured in through the temporal riff and exploded.

"Ma'am we have roughly 45 seconds to get out of this system before the radiation wave strikes us and the Doubtful" the officer said.

"What kind of damage are we talking" Reynolds said feeling precious seconds tick by.

"Catastrophic to the Doubtful if my readings are correct. Damage to the Tiberius would be significant" he said.

"Gunnery station, lock tow beam on to the Doubtful and get us the hell out of here" she commanded. Looking back at the screen Reynolds said, "I am sorry captain there is little there choice at the moment.

With that the small vessel was taken captive and ripped from it's current position at over 500,000 times the speed of light to a remote location, light years away from it's port of origin.

Reynolds straightened her uniform and and smiled into the view screen, "Once again I am sorry for that.... event. I assure you that our appearance had noting to do with that. Yet it does explain why we were in the area" she informed the other commander. "We are currently investigating events similar to the one you just witnessed. Have you encountered anything similar to this" she inquired.
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Telros
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Re: Depolarization

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"Hi, Commander Reynolds, I'm Captain Lynn Andrews. Thanks for the cozy rebuttal, I like seeing a ship that could kill me several times over and be told we'd never see it coming. What are you guys doing here anyways?"

She was waiting for his answer when hell broke loose. An alarm began to ring out as data began to stream in from the various drones, with a few winking out. "What the hell is going on?"

The ensign was typing rapidly, trying to keep up. "Those double we found earlier are starting to collide with each other. I'm reading planetary bodies colliding with each other, EM static all over the spectrum and...oh god." He looked at the captain. "The star just found its double and both went nova."

Lynn's eyes widened. "Sweet Christ...alright, power up the Chaos drive NOW. I want us out of here. I don't care which direction just somewhere!"

The navigations officer keyed in the code but nothing happened. She typed in the diagnostic command with shaking hands as the wave of destructive fire came ever closer towards them. "We can't, ma'am. The Tiberius has some kind of lock on us!"

Lynn turned to stare angrily at Reynolds, an angry and pleading retort on her lips when the other told her there was no other choice and then....nothing. They felt some kind of strange pull that had all their stomachs in a flop and then it stopped. She gripped her chair, waiting for oblivion. None came. She glanced at her bridge crew, all of whom were in the same condition she was.

"Sta...Status report."

Thomas took a quick scan. "I don't know where we are, stars don't match current records. But we're not in that system anymore, we're safe. Those guys saved our butts, in a rather scary way."

Right on cue, Reynolds popped up again, explaining that she was sorry for that event and that it was why they were in that area. Lynn slumped into her seat and struggled to calm her jackhammering heart. "You are asking me if I have ever encountered a star system where planetary bodies were forcefully smashed into their twins and causing the system to explode? No, I have not ever encountered such an impossibility and had never though it could happen. I only came here because the Corporation got a strange signal and I was sent to investigate." She rubbed her temples and then looked at Reynolds.

"Now, I assume from your speech that you know what happened back there. Please do explain what madness just occurred."
Pyramid Facehugger would be fucking brutal. I don't know if I'll ever get to sleep with the thought of that genocidal rape behemoth rampaging through the large-eyed schoolgirls swimming in a sea of biceps that populate my subconscious.


Oh you're starving? WELL FUCK YOU THEN, HADUKEN!
-- Proof that the Old Testament God was a dick.
Metallinauts
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Re: Depolarization

Post by Metallinauts »

"Unfortunately Captain as per directive by my government I am not allowed to disclose the specifics of our mission" Reynolds said. "Suffice to say that our mission involves the protection of the Space Time Continuum. If our mission fails, imagine what you just saw occurring everywhere" she continued. "If you wish to know further details I would be more than happy to meet you here on the Tiberius and give yo more sensitive information" Reynolds offered.
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Telros
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Re: Depolarization

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Lynn blinked. She didn't hear what she thought she heard, did she? Did Reynolds just tell her that she was on a mission to protect the Space-time continuum? She rubbed her forehead as she tried to push past that thought. She needed some painkillers, or she wasn't going to make it. She didn't want to see what happened back at the system going on everywhere, so she decided she needed to meet this Captain.

"Very well. I don't like seeing every system in existence explode, so let's meet, shall we? I am broadcasting the coordinates to Hangar Bay Twelve. An escort will you meet you there and bring you to the only comfortable area on this ship for meeting people. I look forward to speaking with you on this matter, Doubtful out."

She turned to Thomas. "Don't call me unless you really need me, understood?"

He nodded and she left. When Reynolds landed in the Hangar Bay, she was greeted by two soldiers. When she stepped out, one spoke up.

"If you'll follow us, ma'am, we'll lead you to the Captain." They turned and began to head down a series of hallways, passing an occasional crew member whom stared at Reynolds for a few seconds and then returned to their routine. She was led down an elevator before coming to a door. Both guards took up position beside the door.

"She's waiting inside for you." Upon entering, she would see a rather luxurious cabin with padded seats, food and drink, and a cooling vent. She would see the Captain take some pills and drink them down with water. After a moment, she turned to face Reynolds, standing up. "I am Captain Andrews, as I stated before." She reached out with her hand and shook it. She spoke as she waved to a seat.

"Go ahead and sit down, get something to eat and drink if you're hungry or thirsty." She sat down and waited for Reynolds to follow suit. She poured herself some white wine as the other captain was seating herself. Once she was finished, she turned to her.

"So, what in the hell is going on? Because I don't know how you can speak of the space-time continuum with so much ease, but its worrying and I assume it has to deal with our current dilemma."
Pyramid Facehugger would be fucking brutal. I don't know if I'll ever get to sleep with the thought of that genocidal rape behemoth rampaging through the large-eyed schoolgirls swimming in a sea of biceps that populate my subconscious.


Oh you're starving? WELL FUCK YOU THEN, HADUKEN!
-- Proof that the Old Testament God was a dick.
Metallinauts
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Re: Depolarization

Post by Metallinauts »

"Very well Captain, I will meet you" Reynolds said staring down the foreign officer.

"Commander is it advisable to go over to that... vessel. I mean it looks like it is going to depressurize at any given moment" lieutenant Horner said.

"Well, worst case scenario the ship does depressurize and my nano-depress suit activates before I boil out. Then you come and retrieve me" she said smiling, an unusual gesture.

With a long huff, the lieutenant gave up his fight. "Very good ma'am, you will find the ship in working order when you return" he said.

Aboard the ECS Doubtful
Commander Reynolds was amused with the soldiers that met her at the docking port. Their presence was unnecessary, but she would play ball none the less. After a few minutes of walking she came to the room where the Captain was located.

"No thanks Captain, I am not hungry. If you have a scotch or a whiskey though I will be more than happy to oblige" she said, addiction is an ugly thing. "To answer one of your question, I can refer to the STC in a casual manner because it is a common place thing. It is, and always has been a major facet of life for every being everywhere. Well, except for the Suchae that is, bu they have been... dealt with. In any case" she said pausing, "My government has taken it upon itself to... protect the primary time line in the STC. Picture time like a sweater, and the primary time line is the thread that is hanging off it. You pull it for too long and the whole sweater unravels. We stop people from pulling the thread."

"As to what we are looking for and why, I cannot disclose. It is a top secret assignment that not even most of my command staff aboard the Tiberius knows about. Suffice to say that right now I need to know every single detail of what you were looking for" she said with increasing urgency.
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Re: Depolarization

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