Enpala 13 - Orbit
72 Hours after the events of Adjoin
There was little rest for the crew of the ISS Downrider, a recurring predicament as of late for the wayward expedition. With a mission of this nature however, they would have to sleep when they’re dead. Still recovering from their escapade on Trayll II and the near-death experience it brought, the crew had been roused by their Vigali supervisors for a dire search and rescue mission. Esteemed Vigali freighter Vespar II had been marked as radio silent. With the possibility of some of the crew's own findings on the line, it was in their mutual interest to arrive as fast as expressly as possible- even if their own wounds still laid open.
Their destination- Enpala 13. The thirteenth planet in a system of twelve, which had left both the Captain and the Vigali scratching their heads as to who miscounted where. Judging from the Vesprar II's last transmissions, the overlooked planet would be the most likely location for the freighter to be located. The grey planet was a good distance away from its star, but outside of the cool temperatures and questionable haze, the planet was deemed survivable. The subtle lights resembling colonies coming from the surface only further confirmed it. It had been a few hours since the ISS Downrider tried establishing contact with the freighter, to no avail.
Muffled voices came to a conclusion from within Vargas’ study. Dahlia opened the door narrowly, stepping out from within. “Right, right. Keep an open log on the matter,” the Captain said wearily as they wiped the lack of rest from their eye. Unable to sleep more than a few hours with everything that was happening, the Captain had resorted to a frankly unhealthy mixture of energy drinks and alcohol, the latter of which she had to peel off of for the mission. The Captain paced down the narrow hallway that ran through the entirety of the Downrider’s sweetspots, passing through the cozy-as-could-be lounge momentarily. There, she locked eyes with Tara who had planted herself firmly against the opposing wall stripped of weaponry. With a mutual humph, the two swiveled away from each other and went their own ways. Neither was having their best hour, thanks to one another.
The Captain yanked the reinforced cockpit door open, letting the warm lounge air fill the room as she began to seal it behind her. “It’s been four hours, Artemis.” the captain sighed as she fell into the sliding co-pilot seat. Her warm cloak followed behind her, draped over the seat like a cocoon. “The Vigali are still a week or so out, we wandered farther than I thought.”
Dahlia shook her head, rubbing her nose to clear her mind. “Right, briefing The Vespar II was en route to the Kanawl sector, part of a freight trade. What all was on it I don’t have clearance to know, but some of our finds may have been lost with them as well.” Dahlia huffed, looking at the grey planet ahead of them. It would appear as though a gentle storm of cloudy gas had been rolling around the planet for… who knows how long. “We may have to go ahead and start our descent before their black box dies. The planet appears livable, possibly inhabited already. Inhabited by what-” Dahlia waved her hand out to the side as she looked at the twinkling display of yellow lights below “we’re not sure. Nothing big, from the looks of it.”
”Most likely. Chances are they don’t have much big if it’s this cool, anyways. Not enough energy coming from the sun,” Artemis’s background from a successful terraforming project was already shining through. "Right," Dahlia confirmed.
She'd been studying the planet’s surface for a while while the Downrider’s scanners made a search for their query, and had found some spots worthy of note.
”Let’s say they crashed. They couldn’t have been near one of the settlements. On a world like this, there’d be scavengers crawling over the wreck in minutes, and we’d probably see all of that activity by now… Unless they’re inside of that.” The pilot stuck a finger out to the visible storm system on the planet’s surface.
Dahlia peered into the dark cloud, trying to make out a movement pattern. The marbled appearance of the planet’s atmosphere made it hard to discern a direction. "If they crashed, we'll have to approach with caution." Dahlia's communicator rang, prompting her to check it. The captain huffed, returning it to her side. "The Vigali aren't waiting any longer. You can begin a descent on the A7 Sector, most probably course of entry. I'll notify the crew…"
The Captain turned in her seat, pulling out a corded radio from the side panel of the cockpit. "Everyone, brace yourselves. We're beginning our descent. Atmosphere is breathable, but fresh oxygen is recommended. Prepare for low temperatures."
Just how I like it, Artemis thought to herself, the vessel pushing backward under her control. The orbit degraded, then vanished as the Downrider started to plummet towards the planet’s surface. It’d still be a few minutes until they’d feel the atmosphere.”And let’s not end this like Trayl II’s little expedition, shall we? It’s only been three days, keep your steam bottled,” the pilot’s voice commanded everyone - though it was doubt directed at at least two people in particular - via the intercom.
Dahlia grumbled just a bit over mention of the recent expedition, the issues that arose from its aftermath still simmering on the back burner.
---
After time, the ship began to slip into the planet’s atmosphere. The heat shielding kicked in, protecting the ship from the blaze of reentry as it rattled the old courier ship violently. The rattling slowed as the Downrider continued its descent, passing into the cloudy layers of the lower atmosphere. A certain tingly feeling passed through the crew as they evened out level with the surface. Dahlia looked out the windows of the cockpit, checking the sight outside against the scanners dotted across the dashboard. There was solid ground far below them, but it was getting progressively darker the closer they got to the surface. The gravity of the planet was a little on the heavy side, or at least it felt like so. As the ship passed through the cloud, they were peppered with what appeared to be tiny flakes of metal, picked up in the moving cloud. The grainy bits of metal plinked off the ships shielding with little pops of light, rendering it harmless. “Oxygen is definitely recommended.” the Captain corrected herself.
As the ship reached cruising altitude, the view outside was like that of dark twilight. The scanners picked up all kinds of irregular ground and mountains jutting out from around and below, containing high levels of metals and rock. Amidst the dark, even darker trenches would be detected by the scanners, like fractures in the planet's surface. The sun was distant and hazy through the thick atmosphere, leaving little light across the surface. The only sources of light were occasional, irregularly shaped patches of illumination, with hard to distinguish sources. "Visibility is lower than expected at this layer." Dahlia commented, looking out the window. The scanners were hardly helpful either, all the nearby terrain taking the form of distorted polygons and planes. Either the planet’s surface was a mess, or something had formed awry. "We may need to dip lower to get a picture, where's those axillary lights…" The Captain fumbled around the control panel, searching to locate the right control of the many faded buttons that made up the display. "We're going in low. I need a pair of eyes to get on the ventral mount to start scanning."
The ventral mount in question was a particularly ancient pivoting turret mount accessible through a trapdoor in what had become one of the ship's accessory storage closets, off the side of the main path. The mount had been primarily repurposed for scanning, but still contained locked controls for a functional repeating coilgun.
72 Hours after the events of Adjoin
There was little rest for the crew of the ISS Downrider, a recurring predicament as of late for the wayward expedition. With a mission of this nature however, they would have to sleep when they’re dead. Still recovering from their escapade on Trayll II and the near-death experience it brought, the crew had been roused by their Vigali supervisors for a dire search and rescue mission. Esteemed Vigali freighter Vespar II had been marked as radio silent. With the possibility of some of the crew's own findings on the line, it was in their mutual interest to arrive as fast as expressly as possible- even if their own wounds still laid open.
Their destination- Enpala 13. The thirteenth planet in a system of twelve, which had left both the Captain and the Vigali scratching their heads as to who miscounted where. Judging from the Vesprar II's last transmissions, the overlooked planet would be the most likely location for the freighter to be located. The grey planet was a good distance away from its star, but outside of the cool temperatures and questionable haze, the planet was deemed survivable. The subtle lights resembling colonies coming from the surface only further confirmed it. It had been a few hours since the ISS Downrider tried establishing contact with the freighter, to no avail.
Muffled voices came to a conclusion from within Vargas’ study. Dahlia opened the door narrowly, stepping out from within. “Right, right. Keep an open log on the matter,” the Captain said wearily as they wiped the lack of rest from their eye. Unable to sleep more than a few hours with everything that was happening, the Captain had resorted to a frankly unhealthy mixture of energy drinks and alcohol, the latter of which she had to peel off of for the mission. The Captain paced down the narrow hallway that ran through the entirety of the Downrider’s sweetspots, passing through the cozy-as-could-be lounge momentarily. There, she locked eyes with Tara who had planted herself firmly against the opposing wall stripped of weaponry. With a mutual humph, the two swiveled away from each other and went their own ways. Neither was having their best hour, thanks to one another.
The Captain yanked the reinforced cockpit door open, letting the warm lounge air fill the room as she began to seal it behind her. “It’s been four hours, Artemis.” the captain sighed as she fell into the sliding co-pilot seat. Her warm cloak followed behind her, draped over the seat like a cocoon. “The Vigali are still a week or so out, we wandered farther than I thought.”
Dahlia shook her head, rubbing her nose to clear her mind. “Right, briefing The Vespar II was en route to the Kanawl sector, part of a freight trade. What all was on it I don’t have clearance to know, but some of our finds may have been lost with them as well.” Dahlia huffed, looking at the grey planet ahead of them. It would appear as though a gentle storm of cloudy gas had been rolling around the planet for… who knows how long. “We may have to go ahead and start our descent before their black box dies. The planet appears livable, possibly inhabited already. Inhabited by what-” Dahlia waved her hand out to the side as she looked at the twinkling display of yellow lights below “we’re not sure. Nothing big, from the looks of it.”
”Most likely. Chances are they don’t have much big if it’s this cool, anyways. Not enough energy coming from the sun,” Artemis’s background from a successful terraforming project was already shining through. "Right," Dahlia confirmed.
She'd been studying the planet’s surface for a while while the Downrider’s scanners made a search for their query, and had found some spots worthy of note.
”Let’s say they crashed. They couldn’t have been near one of the settlements. On a world like this, there’d be scavengers crawling over the wreck in minutes, and we’d probably see all of that activity by now… Unless they’re inside of that.” The pilot stuck a finger out to the visible storm system on the planet’s surface.
Dahlia peered into the dark cloud, trying to make out a movement pattern. The marbled appearance of the planet’s atmosphere made it hard to discern a direction. "If they crashed, we'll have to approach with caution." Dahlia's communicator rang, prompting her to check it. The captain huffed, returning it to her side. "The Vigali aren't waiting any longer. You can begin a descent on the A7 Sector, most probably course of entry. I'll notify the crew…"
The Captain turned in her seat, pulling out a corded radio from the side panel of the cockpit. "Everyone, brace yourselves. We're beginning our descent. Atmosphere is breathable, but fresh oxygen is recommended. Prepare for low temperatures."
Just how I like it, Artemis thought to herself, the vessel pushing backward under her control. The orbit degraded, then vanished as the Downrider started to plummet towards the planet’s surface. It’d still be a few minutes until they’d feel the atmosphere.”And let’s not end this like Trayl II’s little expedition, shall we? It’s only been three days, keep your steam bottled,” the pilot’s voice commanded everyone - though it was doubt directed at at least two people in particular - via the intercom.
Dahlia grumbled just a bit over mention of the recent expedition, the issues that arose from its aftermath still simmering on the back burner.
---
After time, the ship began to slip into the planet’s atmosphere. The heat shielding kicked in, protecting the ship from the blaze of reentry as it rattled the old courier ship violently. The rattling slowed as the Downrider continued its descent, passing into the cloudy layers of the lower atmosphere. A certain tingly feeling passed through the crew as they evened out level with the surface. Dahlia looked out the windows of the cockpit, checking the sight outside against the scanners dotted across the dashboard. There was solid ground far below them, but it was getting progressively darker the closer they got to the surface. The gravity of the planet was a little on the heavy side, or at least it felt like so. As the ship passed through the cloud, they were peppered with what appeared to be tiny flakes of metal, picked up in the moving cloud. The grainy bits of metal plinked off the ships shielding with little pops of light, rendering it harmless. “Oxygen is definitely recommended.” the Captain corrected herself.
As the ship reached cruising altitude, the view outside was like that of dark twilight. The scanners picked up all kinds of irregular ground and mountains jutting out from around and below, containing high levels of metals and rock. Amidst the dark, even darker trenches would be detected by the scanners, like fractures in the planet's surface. The sun was distant and hazy through the thick atmosphere, leaving little light across the surface. The only sources of light were occasional, irregularly shaped patches of illumination, with hard to distinguish sources. "Visibility is lower than expected at this layer." Dahlia commented, looking out the window. The scanners were hardly helpful either, all the nearby terrain taking the form of distorted polygons and planes. Either the planet’s surface was a mess, or something had formed awry. "We may need to dip lower to get a picture, where's those axillary lights…" The Captain fumbled around the control panel, searching to locate the right control of the many faded buttons that made up the display. "We're going in low. I need a pair of eyes to get on the ventral mount to start scanning."
The ventral mount in question was a particularly ancient pivoting turret mount accessible through a trapdoor in what had become one of the ship's accessory storage closets, off the side of the main path. The mount had been primarily repurposed for scanning, but still contained locked controls for a functional repeating coilgun.