Welcome to the Hub! We see that your contract as a pilot isn't finalized. Which Company do you want to hire you?
[[Join Sadko Transportation]]
[[Join Ephemeris Engineering]]Welcome to Sadko Transportation. We're glad you've treated all those news reports for what they are: lies. Sadko played no part in those tragic attacks against the Ahai. We still have a role to play in The Contract. It might not be as much money as we used to earn, but there's a lot to be made.
[[That's a Relief!]]
[[But I came to Sadko to fight!]]"You must have heard that we're not just engineers and a few test pilots anymore. If Sadko won't fly with the Ahai, someone needs to. If Sadko wants to attack our convoys, someone needs to protect them. I know we're not supposed to say it's Sadko, but it's Sadko."
"I know you have previous flying experience, but I can't just stick you right in a brand new, top-of-the line Petrel. I've got a slot on a Marlin for what we call 'research.' How does that sound?"
[[You can trust me with a Marlin.]] "Is it? Hmmm... okay, we we need someone to fly the transport from the surface of the Earth to the Hub. Go to Docking Port 2 and meet up with Taya. You'll be flying with her. The good news is you'll be able to sleep at home each night. The bad news is the pay is way lower than working on any of the long-haul trips."
[[Thank you for the opportunity.]]That's too bad, because Sadko doesn't sanction violence. If some Sadko captain's go rogue, that is solely their responsibility. We cannot control every ship angry that the Ahai wormholes are taking their jobs.
I'm assigning you to Captain Karinin on the //Irina//. I'm sure he can teach you something about what the Ahai wormholes do for us.
[[Fine, I guess I have to earn some money anyway.]]Welcome to the //Irina// crewman. I hope you don't mind spending long periods of time away from Earth. We need you to be our communications officer. My last one got... scruples. You don't have scruples, do you?
[[I've learned to be morally flexible.]]That's just what I wanted to hear. //Irina// is a Flounder, so it's one of the only ships that can enter atmosphere. Sometimes we may put down in places not marked on a map, that's all. We're leaving The Hub for the asteroid belt, near Ceres Station. Contact the Hub station and tell them we're departing.
[[Hub, Irina is departing.]]
[[Hub, Irina is departing for Ceres station.]]How have you liked your first long-range deep space run. The crew likes you. Mr. Lubov especially. If the quartermaster likes you, you'll do okay.
It doesn't look like Ceres Station has picked us up yet. Great. We need to make a quick stop before we get there. See if you can't raise the "Neva." She should be lurking behind some of these asteroids.
[[Neva, this is the Irina, do you copy?]]How have you liked your first long-range deep space run. The crew likes you. Mr. Lubov especially. If the quartermaster likes you, you'll do okay.
We're approaching the asteroid belt, but it looks like Ceres station is contacting us. They want us to enter into an approach vector? I wonder why they're expecting us? I hadn't planned on stopping there so quickly.
[[Ceres Station, Irina will enter the approach vector.]]We can make this pick-up fast, keep suspicions low, then hit the rendevous a little late.
[[Ceres Station, Irina is ready for docking.]]That went well. Customs didn't ask any questions. It was helpful having an empty cargo-hold. Now that we've got the official delivery, let's go hit the rendevous. See if you can raise the //Neva//.
[[Neva, this is Irina, are you out there somewhere?]]
"//Irina//, we were just about to leave you. Glad you made it. Come along side so we can get you your... supplies."
[[We're ready to dock.]]Thanks for the cargo //Neva//. This will definitely come in handy, and it's more than we expected. We'll see you at the next rendevous.
Ok, let's go make our official pick-up at Ceres Station. We should be in range to get approach vectors.
[[Ceres Station, Irina is ready for approach vectors.]]It shouldn't take long to get the new cargo loaded. Keep an ear to the communications panel while I go talk to the port authority.
[[Start waiting.]]Something comes through, barely audible, through the radio. Through the static, you think you hear someone yelling, but you can't tell the language.
[[Last calling station, this is Irina, say again?]]
[[Ignore the call]]."//Irina// this is //Moscva//, help us please! Something attacked us and we're leaking..." The transmission cuts off.
//Moscva// is nearly a day out of range. You probably won't get there in time. This is why we have to fight! Ephemeris, Qinlin, L2H, they all think they can destroy our livilihoods and our ships!
[[Try to help the Moscva.]]Huh, no answer. That idiot must have gotten spooked and left. He needs to get us our... //other// cargo. Check all the frequencies.
You're getting something through the static, but can't make out what it is. It might be the //Neva// but they sound panicked.
[[Neva, is that you?]]
//Irina// approaches the source of the transmission. A cloud of fresh debris, still sparking, is all that you can find.
You scan the transmissions.
[[This is Irina is anyone out here?]]It took nearly a day to get the location of the //Moscva//. There's nothing left but debris floating at the edge of the asteroid belt. The debris doesn't just come from one ship, though. You count at least eight hulks colliding with rocks in space.
[[Call out for survivors.]]
[[Captain, let's get out of here!]]There's no response, not even automated emergency beacons.
In fact, there are no lights or residual power sources among the debris at all. Surely, there's something still functioning out there.
[[Take a more detailed scan.]]We've arrived at our next rendevous. There's the //Neva//.
We're picking up indications of a Corporate convoy en route.
[[Warn the Neva of the destruction of the Moscva.]]
[[Give the Neva the plan for ambushing the convoy.]]There is something! You pick up a glint of sunlight, then another. You focus the sensors in that area.
You zoom in, and see four flashes.
[[You call out again.]]There's no response, but something is heading towards us, fast!
We should get out of here, fast! Call for help!
[[This is Irina, something's happening out here! We need help!]] The first impact shuts off the lights, leaving everyone in darkness.
The second impact starts a catastrophic decompression.
As you lose consciousness, you see a strange data stream from the sensors.
[[Transmit the sensor data.]]
[[Send a last message home.]]Many ships receive the sensor data, giving them some hope of finding whatever destroyed your ship.
But no one will ever recover the wreckage. Or your body.
THE END.Your message to your family gets lost with hundreds of similar messages. You end up a statistic without a name, a footnote in a report about the Hetarek invasion.
THE END.The Corporate ships must have ambushed the //Mosvca//. We won't give them the chance to do that to us!
[[Coordinate pre-emptive attack on the Corporate convoy.]]From a distance, the Corporate convoy can't tell if //Irina// is an aggressor or just another freighter. We'll approach them slowly and then spring the ambush.
[[Give entry pattern for the convoy.]]Success! We destroyed two of their ships, a Guppy carrying settlement supplies and Skipjack carrying fuel. That created a huge explosion, damaging several other ships.
We don't have any more ammunition since we couldn't rendevous with the //Neva// earlier.
The Ahai wormhole ship just appeared. But it's broadcasting a message to everyone...
"Humans, the Hetarek are attacaking! We can take you to safety!"
[[It's a trap! We should escape!]]
[[What are the Hetarek?]]The Captain hesistates before fleeing. Before he shouts a course corrections, new ships appear on the sensors.
They aren't Ahai and they aren't Corporate.
The Ahai open a wormhole and the Corporate ships start diving towards it.
The Ahai call out to the //Irina// and //Neva//, offering to help.
The Captain orders //Irina// to speed towards the wormhole.
//Neva// hesitates, only accelerates towards escape after a volley of missles streaks towards her.
[[Don't look back as you enter the wormhole.]]We've put a lot of distance between us and that Ahai ship.
Something's showing up on the sensors, coming at us fast. It's not Corporate, and it's not Ahai.
The Ahai are offering to assist us, but they're too far away!
We don't have anything to shoot...
[[Watch the incoming missiles.]]Just before impact, you check your sensors. The Ahai opened a wormhole far behind you and the corporate ships escape through it.
The attackers didn't slow down to kill you. They're already launching missles at the convoy still trying to get through the wormhole.
You don't have time to wonder what happened as the //Irina// explodes.
THE END.The Ahai wormhole leaves the convoy survivors orbiting a strange planet. The Ahai stay on the other side, promising to be back with more survivors.
But you wait for hours. All the ships stay put, not knowing where they are or where to go.
The Ahai never show back up. Neither do any other survivors.
You're lost, surrounded by your bitter enemies, with no idea of what happened.
But at least you are alive.
THE END.An Ahai wormhole ship just showed up, but it's not on any schedule. This isn't their usual route...
They're saying something about the "Hetarek" are coming and that everyone should come to them.
[[That's suspicious, it must be an ambush. Attack!]]
[[What's a Hetarek? What are they talking about?]]//Irina// and //Neva// launch their few weapons against the Ahai wormhole ship. Almost completely defensive, the ship explodes.
The rest of the Corporate Convoy start to scatter.
[[Make a victory cry over the radio.]]The Captain hesitates.
New ships appear on the sensors. Strange ships, niether Corporate nor Ahai. They're rushing towards the convoy.
The Ahai panic. They start opening a wormhole, but it won't be open in time.
[[Charge towards the wormhole to be first through.]]
[[Use your limited weapons against the attackers.]]The sensors pick up something else on the other side of the Ahai wreckage.
Ships have appeared, strange ones not on any register.
They're coming fast. Very fast.
And they've just launched weapons.
There's nothing more to shoot. We fired it all at the Ahai.
[[Call for help.]]Unsurprisingly, the Corporate Convoy don't respond. Even if they didn't hate you for destroying the wormhole ship, the attackers have descended upon the convoy.
The power on the //Irina// flickers out as you watch other ships explode in the distance.
As you die, you know you're dying alone.
THE END.The Ahai opened the wormhole to an unknown planet. Many of the ships didn't make it through, including a Skipjack carrying fuel, another Skipjack carrying water, and a Guppy filled with agriculture equipment.
The Ahai don't follow. They say they will be back with more survivors.
But you wait, and wait, and wait.
No one knows where the Ahai put the convoy. All they know is that they are alive.
THE ENDThe attackers take their eys off the convoy, heading straight for //Irina// and //Neva//.
You don't recognize the ships, but you recognize the intent. //Irina// puts up a valiant fight. //Neva// was closer to the attackers and drew double the attention.
The Ahai are keeping the wormhole open.
[[Help out the Neva.]]
[[Head to the wormhole.]]"//Irina// get out of..." //Neva//'s transmission gets cut off as the ship explodes.
The Ahai close the wormhole after the last of the Corporate convoy passes through.
With no other targets, the attackers focus on //Irina//.
The missiles strike before anyone on board can cry out.
If any of the survivors consider //Irina// and //Neva// heroes for buying them time to get through the wormhole, no one will ever know.
THE END.The wormhole deposits //Irina// in orbit around a strange planet.
The Ahai ship doesn't follow through, promising to find other survivors.
But after hours, the Ahai ship doesn't respond, and the convoy is left stranded.
As the communications officer, you find yourself too busy to ponder the next steps as you field repeated calls of thanks from the other surviving ships. They all want Captain Karinin's guideance on what to do next.
THE END."//Irina// this is the //Moscva// we've been attacked by... something. We're leaking atmosphere. Please help us!"
Karinin stares at the sensors. "They're too far out, and we don't have any weapons to fight with without the //Neva//. If we can find the //Neva// we can warn them that Corporate ships are attacking Sadko transports."
[[We're just going to leave them?]]
[[They're on our side; we need to help them to help our fight!]]
Captain Karinin screams at you. Two patrol vessels, top-of-the-line Ephemeris ships only sold to the Corporate alliance, take advantage of the confusion to block the departure route.
Several investigators pound on the airlock door, demanding entry. Captain Karinin gives up, letting them in.
It doesn't take long for them to charge onto the bridge, weapons drawn, making accusations about anti-ship weapons in the cargo hold.
One of the investigators corners you.
"You're new here. You have an option to do some good for yourself. You can cooperate as required under Article Thirty Two of The Contract, or you can face the consequences."
[[Cooperate.]]
[[Tell the investigator to shove it.]]Your testimony convicts Captain Karinin and the rest of the crew. They were attempting to ambush a corporate convoy.
In recognition of your assistance to the prosecution, they only sentence you to five years circling Earth in a prison station.
You will still be in the prison station when the Hetarek sweep through the Solar System, left behind by the exodus of humanity.
THE END.A few months locked in a tiny brig on Ceres Station change your mind, but it's too late. You'll be able to see Earth from the exercise yard in its orbit as you serve your twenty-five year sentence.
You are still in the prison station when the Hetarek sweep through the Solar System, left behind by the exodus of humanity.
THE END."That's the one I'd take. No questions. Remember about ten years ago, before the Ahai, when the Marlins first came out? They're still the fastest thing without a wormhole. And who wants to work for a crew anyway."
"Head over to the Ephemeris Corporate dock in the far corner of the Hub. They'll get you set up with your first job."
[[Thanks!]]"Welcome to the Ephemeris Engineering Spacial Research Program. That's a fancy word for recon. I can't believe I'm just going to toss over the keys to a Marlin to someone who joined the company this monring, but it's an older model. Also, it's hard to believe but we don't have many people volunteering for this job anymore. People don't like having to be out in deep space all alone. It's better than being crammed elbow to elbow with a couple hundred people in a station for a year, that's the truth."
[[I like the idea of relying on myself.]]"Great. We have two areas that we need to send someone to observer. One is in the asteroid belt not far from Ceres station. We've caught a couple of Sadko ships passing through there and we don't know why. The other is way out there. On the very edge of the colonized solar system. We keep picking u some readings and the Ahai get worried when we ask them about it."
[[I'll head to the asteroid belt.]]
[[I want to take it out to the edge.]]You take your first long-distance space flight alone. The Marlin's power impresses you, even if the accomodations do not. You spend the tiem reading up on your new job. Ephemeris gave your Marlin a sensor package. All they want you to do is fly past a area taking sensor readings. They didn't tell you that the sensor package they installed took up your bunk space and you'd have to sleep in the cockpit. It's a small cost for the amount they're paying you though. Besides, you can stop at Ceres Station if you need to.
[[Make a pit stop at Ceres station.]]
[[Do a flyby before grabbing a shower.]]The flight to the edge of the Solar System, past Uranus, takes a lot out of you. For someone who's never left Earth's orbit, the months-long journey may have been too much.
Being alone didn't start to bother you until the third week. At first, the speed of the Marlin and the romance of deep-space travel kept you going. But that wore off fast. You're tired, you're bored, you're hungry, and you haven't showered in months.
You wonder why Ephemeris didn't get the Ahai to hurry you along. They could have opened a wormhole to the edge of the system in hours. You also stop wondering why they had a hard time finding candidates for this job.
[[Report that you finally arrived at your final destination.]]The shower, change of clothes, and real food felt great, as did stretching your legs on "real" artificial gravity.
The pit stop took four hours. Then you head out towards the navigation point in the asteroid belt.
[[Do your flyby.]]The flyby found two ships, the //Neva// and the //Irina// docked with each other near an unusually close cluster of asteroids. The sensors showed they were transferrng things from one ship to another. The registry shows that the //Neva// has no history of attacks, but that the //Irina// has been connected with several and has been on docking restrictions and inspection requirements. You keep your distance and speed, and it doesn't look like they've seen you.
[[Transmit your report.]]You receive an acknowledgement from Ephemeris, and instructions to head further out into the asteroid belt for a flurry of frantic transmissions along a shipping lane.
[[Your rest at Ceres Station will have to wait.]]As you approach the nav point, your sensors start going crazy. Static jams the radio frequencies.
Your sensors detect explosions and debris. They also detect ships, but nothing built by Ephemeris and nothing from the Ahai database.
A call comes in over the radio. "This is the Skipjack //Thames// we need help! We're under attack from..." Static cuts off the transmission.
You check the guidelines for the Spacial Research Program. They clearly say reporting information is more important tthan getting involved. You want to do //something// but your Marlin has no weapons and no room to take an advisors.
[[Return to report the attack.]]
[[Get inovlved.]]It's a tough decision, but you know there is nothing else you can really do. You submit the report through the Quantum Entanglement Communication system as the sensors gather more data on the carnage at the edge of its detection capability.
You pick up two of the strange ships turning away from the growing debris field towards your position. You've been spotted!
[[Floor it out of there!]]You nearly burn out the Marlin's engines, no easy feat, as you charge towards the distress signal.
The sensors pick up incoming, strange vessels. They also pick up a faint transmission from an Ahai vessel in the distance, also calling out in destress and warning about a "Hetarek" attack, whatever that is.
You struggle to transmit the data, but your panicked fingers keep hitting the wrong buttons on the Quantum Entanglement Communication system.
The sensors pick up something new, something smaller, something faster. It doesn't take an intelligence analysist to know that missiles are headed your way.
There's not much you can do.
[[Brace for impact.]]You wonder how four missiles can strike a ship as small as the Marlin simultaneously. If your sensors would have survived, you would have learned that they detonated around the ship, breaching its hull with shrapnel riding a concussion wave.
Not that it would matter to you. You're still hoping the speed demon you're flying can outrun the attack when it fails to do so. The last instants become an incomprehensible blur.
THE END.The incoming ships probably could have caught up if not for the asteroid field. You're able to find a large hung of rock to put between the Marlin and your pursuers, giving you just enough cover to change directions several times and escape.
Before your pulse returns to normal, you receive a response from Ephermeris.
"We have gotten multiple reports of attacks throughout the system. We're trying to establish a pattern and will keep you informed. We also received a report of the //Irina// and //Neva// on separate approaches to one of our convoys. The convoy is on alert but we want you to scan the area around it in case this is part of something larger.
[[Head for the convoy.]]As you approach the convoy, your sensors detect more familiar weapons fire. It looks like two of the escort ships engaged the //Neva// and //Irina// before any of the Convoy became damaged. Both Sadko attackers appear damaged.
An Ahai wormhole appears near the convoy, spitting out an Ahai wormhole ship.
"Humans! The Hetarek are atacking throughout the system! You need to come with us!"
The convoy hesistates in responding to the strange call.
[[Turn your sensors outward.]]You pick up strange yet familiar ships. The sensors confirm your suspicion: The incoming ships are the same type that tried to follow you earlier.
[[Warn the convoy about the strange sensor readings!]]The convoy doesn't bother to thank you before rushing the Ahai wormhole.
You have more ground to cover, but you're in a Marlin. You can make it.
[[Pass through the wormhole.]]You emerge in orbit around a terristrial planet, but not Earth. You're already disoriented from your first trip through a tear in space time, but now you reaize you don't know where you are. The rest of the convoy seems equally lost, even those who had been to hte handful of human colonies outside the solar system.
The convoy asks you to perform a detailed scan with your sensors, but even they come up empty.
The Ahai send a message through the wormhole, promising to return, but they don't emerge.
With your sensors running on full, you report the truth to the handful of other human vessels orbiting the planet: you are all off the edge of the map, with no way to get home. Only your sensor data can tell the truth of what happened back in the Solar System and it will take weeks of analysis before you have a full picture of what happened.
THE END.You're eager to complete your first assignment, so you head straight for the area of interest and conduct your scan.
There's on ship in the distance in transit. Other than the strange location, nothing is out of the ordinary for a ship transiting the belt. The ships is the //Neva//, a Sadko vessel with no record of involvement in any attack.
[[Head for Ceres Station.]]Relieved to be at a place with real facilities, where you can stretch out, take a shower, and sleep in a bed instead of a cockpit couch, you take advantage of it. After all, your initial mission is complete. You stay at Ceres Station for a full 24 hours before returning to your Marlin.
You finally return to your ship and find a message from Ephemeris waiting for you.
"Thank you for your report. Even a negative report helps. You should be advised that several ships on the edge of the asteroid belt stopped responding this morning. We received some data that indicates it may have been attacked. But we've also received reports that there may be an attack on one of our convoys leaving the asteroid belt at another location. Head to that location and scan the area."
[[Depart Ceres Station and head for the area of interest.]]The Marlin takes you to the convoy rendevous point quickly. Your sensors barely pick up a debris field off in the distance, probably the site of the earlier attack.
You find the convoy quickly, and everything seems normal. As your sensors continue scanning, they pick up a new sensor reading. You focus on it, and details start pouring in. It's the //Neva//, the same ship you found passing through the asteroid field on your first assignment. You check its route, finding nothing unusual about it.
The communications system begins picking up fragments from the edge of the Solar System. The fragments show other convoys in panic, fighting off some kind of attack. But distance and static keep out too many details to paint a clear picture.
[[Continue searching for signs of trouble.]]You detect another ship entering the area, the //Irina//. She //does// have a history of possible involvement in attacks on convoys. In fact, she's been on a watch list, under docking restrictions, and faces heightened inspection requirements. She's on a direct course for the convoy, but the convoy can't see her yet.
[[Warn the convoy about the Irina.]]
[[Ask the Irina to declare her intentions.]]The convoy reacts immediately, moving into a position to defend itself against the //Irina//. The two escort ships target the incoming Sadko vessel in a show of force. //Irina// alters course slightly, turning away from the convoy.
While the convoy, and you, focus on the //Irina//, //Neva// opens fire from another direction. Large inertial missiles fly out of its cargo hold, heading towards a Guppy filled with fuel and a Skipjack filled with foodstuffs.
As the convoy turns again to face the new threat, //Irina// releases its own payload, striking two escort ships before they can fire.
[[Your sensors go crazy, temporarily leaving you blind.]]An Ahai wormhole appears dangerously close to the convoy and outside of any established transit time. Its wormhole ship emerges, broadcasting a warning: "The Hetarek are attacking! We will create a tunnel to take you to safety!"
The convoy remains engaged with the two Sadko vessels, barely responding to the Ahai.
Your sensors begin to sort through the wormhole's distortion. New vessels appear on your scopes, ships not made by Ephemeris and not appearing in the Ahai database. They're coming through the asteroid belt, using it for cover as they approach.
[[Tell the convoy about the incoming ships.]]After several attempts, you get the convoy to pay attention to something other than the Sadko attackers.
But the new arrivals are nearly on top of the convoy. The Ahai open a new wormhole, again coaxing everyone to pass through to safety.
The incoming vessels launch something the sensors don't recognize, but anyone can tell incoming missiles. The convoy is between you and the wormhole, and the amount of debris make it impossible to make a run for the escape route.
You angle your Marlin away from the convoy, hoping that some of the attackers might follow. They do. Too many of them.
[[Continue evasive manuevers.]]Four missiles are tracking you now. Another twenty four continue on towards the convoy.
Even the Marlin speed-demon can't outrun or outmanuever the strange attackers and their missiles. Each second of evasion only serves to draw out the inevitable, but you never give up hope.
Until the first missle detonates nearby, sending the Marlin spiralling out of control.
Directly into the path of another missile.
With your ship spinning out of control, you squeeze your eyes shut, and don't see the final flash.
THE END.There's nothing to tell you that you've reached your destination other than a notice from your navigation computer and a communication from a boss you've never met.
They want you to scan the area and report back any unusual findings.
[[Scan the area.]]
[[You're exhausted. Take a nap first.]]Numbers scroll across the screen. Your eyes burn too much with exhaustion to focus on any of them. You spent weeks reading the guidelines for using the sensors, including what red flags might appear. But all that knowledge blurred with the monotony.
[[Keep staring at the screen.]]You don't wake up refreshed, but you can at least pay attention to the data scrolling across your screen as the sensors scoop up any data they can find.
An hour into the scan, you notice something. You check the Ephemeris Guidelines you read early on your trip, and compare the sensor data to a note in the file. The sensors barely picked up distortions caused by objects traveling at extremely high speed. Speeds measured against the speed of light. The guidelines don't say anything about readings like this, and you worry about making a false report on your first mission.
You have the Quantum Entanglement Communications system, which lets you contact your superiors.
[[Notify Ephemeris about the strange readings.]]
[[Record the data and send it in with the usual report.]]More numbers. More data that don't say anything to you.
[[Read more numbers.]]You realize you've drifted off to sleep several times without realizing it.
The computer hasn't told you anything. You don't remember seeing anything. There must be nothing to report.
You hit "send" on the entire data stream. It's too large to go through the Quantum Entanglement Communications system, so it will go the slow way at the speed of light. It will take hours for the data to get anywhere.
[[Take a nap while you wait for further instructions.]]You wake up to an alarm from the communications system. The message isn't sent to you, it's broadcast to everyone, everywhere.
Something has attacked the system. The Ahai have called the attackers the "Hetarek," but that means nothing to you.
Reports come in garbled by static, distance, and the time it took for the radio transmissions to cross the Solar System. Some of these panicked messages originated twelve hours before on the other side of the system. Some of these people have been dead for hours.
[[Use your Quantum Entanglement Communications system to call headquarters.]]You get no response. The problem with the QEC is that each system is entangled with only one receiver. If something happened to the other receiver, you have to use slow radio signals.
You do a quick calculation. The nearest station is ten days at full throttle. It's a research station with maybe a dozen people on it. They were the ones who first reported the anomolies.
[[Contact the station.]]"Yes, we're getting the same reports. Our QEC isn't tethered to another station anymore, but their last transmission said they were under attack. Are you coming to help us?"
[[Set a course for the research station.]]Over the course of ten days, the panicked radio calls become less frequent. Not because the panic faded, but because fewer people were left to panic. At one point, it sounds like there was an attempt at a defense of Earth, but it failed. The Ahai created several wormholes near major stations closer to the center of the system to help humans escape the Hetarek, until the Hetarek destroyed one of the Ahai wormhole ships.
[[Arrive at the research station.]]The 12 scientists and engineers are barely holding on. In the first few days, they called out to other ships in the outer edges of the solar system. They stopped when they considered the consequences of drawing Hetarek attention. A few ships were en route, bringing more mouths to feed.
The station has enough supplies to last the 12 person crew for six months. They were in month five of their rotation. Other than the handful of ships silently heading their way, they haven't heard from anyone in four days.
Somehow, these engineers look to you, the first arrival from outside, for leadership.
But you know the truth. You can starve on the station, or head in system to be killed by the Hetarek.
Either way, you've been left behind by the rest of humanity.
THE END.You walk back to the docking port next to the passenger terminal where you arrived just hours before. There's a woman in a oil-stained flightsuit standing next to the gate.
"Are you the new guy? I'm Taya. You'll be my co-pilot. I don't know how you managed to piss someone off enough so quickly to get assigned this duty. Low pay and boring work. We're not even carrying passengers. We're carrying cargo and supplies. Two trips a day."
"Speaking of which, hop on board. We've got another run to make."
[[Climb on board the transport.]]The worn Dolphin transport clearly has seen better days. Some of the instruments flicker, the thread-bare co-pilot's seat threatens to burst when you sit down. The ship doesn't even have a name, only a number: DC-487.
The trip down to the surface takes a half-hour. Taya drones on about the boredom of the job, but you can't help but stare at the view. The Earth curving beneath you as terrain features slowly resolve. You find romance in it, and, despite Taya's disgruntled complaints about the job's monotony, you think you can be happy with your new job.
"We're going to land outside of St. Petersburg for our first leg. Check the navigation points for me, would you?"
[[Help Taya land the shuttle.]]You touch down at an expanasive complex south of the city. Pallets of cargo already wait on the landing pad. Taya shuts off the engines and unstraps herself. "I have to run in for something, I'll be back in a few minutes, get the cargo loaded."
Unsure of yourself, you approach the grizzled man holding a tablet next to the cargo. "Are you new? Where't Taya? Never mind; we'll get this stuff loaded. And the //extra// items are in the crates marked 'toolkits.'"
[[What extra items?]]
[[Sign for the cargo without saying anything.]]"Don't worry about it. I'll just get these loaded."
You watch as the small cargo-bay fills up. Hoses pump fuel into the Dolphin while you wait.
Taya returns, an angry look on her face. "Sven just told me you were asking questions. Don't ask questions. It's your first day and you don't know anything."
[[Yes, ma'am.]]Taya returns to the Dolphin just as the last packaged are being loaded onto the ship.
"We have to head to America to pick up some more cargo from an Ephemeris facility there."
During the hours of suborbital flight to America, Taya explained the routine. Unlike the passenger flights that often had a chaotic schedule and detailed inspection processes each time they docked at the Hub, the cargo haulers ran predictable loops.
The Ephemeris facility is just another stop, but only trusted pilots were sent there. Ephemeris was suspicious of most Sadko ships given the open conflict between many rogue Sadko captains and any corporate entity aligning with the Ahai.
[[Land at the Ephemeris facility.]]It takes a few hours to load the equipment, and Taya treats you with silence. Eventually, she climbs back in the cockpit and shouts at you to follow.
The next leg of the journey takes to you the American mid-west, and the hours-long trip through the edge of Earth's atmosphere gives you more incredible sights that distract you from Taya's irritation.
You land at an Ephemeris Engineering facility. Taya doesn't say anything to you as she disappears off the landing pad once again.
You talk to the cargo master, who is much friendlier than Sven.
[[Build repoir by making a joke about the extra cargo.]] The cargo master's smile disappears. He shoves the tablet in front of you to sign, which you do.
Once you climb back on board the Dolphin, and Taya still says nothing as she remerges from the facility. She snaps at you to start the take-off procedures, something you've only done in simulations. She yells at you several times as you make mistakes, your inexperience combining with the discomfort of your co-workers anger.
[[Take off to return to the Hub.]]As you approach the Hub, your radio crackles. "Dolphin DC-487, establish a holding position and standby for inspection under Article 32 of The Contract."
Taya turns around to face the cargo hold, then checks her monitors. "That 32 Mako is nearly on us. I don't think we're going to be able to get it out of the ship before they dock with us." She faces you. "There's a way to play this, but you need to be smart. It's your first day and didn't know to inspect the cargo when we left St. Petersburg. I wasn't there to tell you what to do because I went in to get some paperwork. Just play along and we'll be okay."
[[Let the inspectors board.]]The inspectors open every piece of cargo loaded at St. Petersburg, leaving the Ephemeris cargo alone. When they remove the lid from the box marked "toolkits," they find weapons.
The inspectors draw their own guns and arrest the both of you, Taya protesting her innocence and shouting at you for not inspecting the cargo. You play dumb because you honestly don't understand what's going on.
[[The investigators take you into custody.]]You wait in a holding cell for two days. It wears on you, but you have nothing to confess to other than ignorance. It was your first day, after all.
The Ephemeris man from the stop in America tipped off the authorities after your joke.
The investigators are eventually satisfied when they get your employment record and you provide the description of the cargo master in St. Petersburg.
They release you and Taya with warnings placed in your file.
[[Return to the Dolphin.]]Taya remains angry, but it is mixed with relief. She warms up the Dolphin and sets a course back to the Hub.
As soon as the radio turns on, strange calls start coming in about ongoing attacks.
"All Sadko ships, the Ahai are claiming a system-wide attack by something called the Hetarek. Assist in evacuations as necessary. Dolphins are requested to land on Earth and evacuate Ephemeris facilities."
"What do they mean by an attack? And screw those Ephemeris people on Earth."
Strange ships appear on your sensors heading both for the planet and towards the complex of space stations around the Hub.
"We need to get people off of those stations." Taya announces.
[[Set course for the Sadko stations.]]Many ships from both sides of the Corporate War are lined up to load refugees from the Sadko facilities. Reports of attacks and lost ships increase.
It takes hours for you to get a docking port. Terrified people cram into the cargo hold. Through the viewport, you see explosions in the distance, and huge ships appear on the sensor but nowhere in the known ships database.
As your ship detaches from the facility, an Ahai wormhole ship appears. It opens a wormhole. "Human vessels, we can take you all to safety."
The Ahai started the Corporate War by taking jobs away from Sadko. You know the history, and Taya knows it even better. But one look out of the viewport at the incoming attack elimates any hesitation.
[[Head for the wormhole.]]The wormhole puts you out somewhere in deep space, a place the Dolphin isn't meant to be. Dozens of vessels from both sides of the Corporate War huddle together.
As soon as you arrive, you get instructions to dock at the //Columbia// the large command ship at the middle of the fleet. The //Columbia// doesn't seem to care which side of the Corporate War you and your passengers have been on, they just want to help all of the human refugees.
Taya takes the Dolphin to the //Columbia//. There, you mix with all the other Earth refugees, standing in a line in the hanger bay, hoping to be accounted for.
Only as you wait with hundreds of others do you realize that over the course of few days, all of humanity has become homeless.
THE END.An Ephemeris cargo master loads crates into the Dolphin quickly. Taya takes you with her into the facility and shows you how to properly complete the paperwork. She tells you to be formal and pleasant with the Ephemeris managers, who offer you both a decent lunch while you wait.
Before long, you both head back to the Dolphin and prepare for launch.
[[Return to the Hub.]]Taya turns to you as the Dolphin begins its docking sequence. "Before we hand over the cargo and the manifest, sometimes another Sadko employee will come by to pick up certain cargo loaded from St. Petersburg. It's usually something like toolkits. It's important to make sure our manifest is properly accounted for when we clear customs after they pick up the package. If customs sees that we already handed over some cargo listed on our manifest, they get upset and that holds us up. So your job is to make sure the manifest that customs sees matches what's in our cargo hold after Sadko picks up the special items. You understand?"
[[I think I understand.]]
The transfer of the "toolkits" to the Sadko employee goes smoothly, and you manage to revise the manifest. Customs does't notice anything amiss.
Eight hours have passed since you first set foot on the Dolphin, completing one turn of the delivery schedule. You're tired, but Taya playfully shoves you back towards the ship.
"Come on, rookie, we've got another turn through the delivery circuit to do before we call it a day."
[[Prepare the Dolphin for another departure.]]As you depart, you start picking up communications from the extreme edge of the radio's range. Ships, multiple ships, are calling in distress. They're claiming they're under attack from someone.
An Ahai comes on a broad-spectrum frequency, it's sing-song voice panicked. "Humans the Hetarek are attacking! We can help you escape!"
As you about to enter the atmosphere, you pick up strange ships on your sensors. Dozens of them, all heading for the cluster of stations around the Hub.
"Sadko vessels, we need to evacuate. All Dolphins should head to the surface to evacuate key Ephemeris personnel!"
Taya looks at you. "The Ephemeris people are in league with the Ahai. They've cost us so many lives, jobs, and money. But those ships are heading for the Sadko facilities. What should we do?"
[[Head to the surface to save the Ephemeris personnel.]]
[[Set course for the Sadko stations.]] You make it down to the landing pad you left only hours before, only to find it packed with people, including some families, struggling for space on one of the Dolphins leaving the surface.
People cram into the Dolphin's cargo hold, yelling in agitation and fear. Guards have to hold back other refugees rushing the ship.
When another person cannot possibly fit onto the ship, Taya yells at the to hold on.
[[Launch back into space.]]You enter low-Earth orbit into a storm. Ships on no database are firing on any human vessel. Several ships and stations hang in orbit, lifeless, without power. A few of the Ephemeris ships built to protect Ahai convoys against Sadko attacks try to defend an Ahai wormhole ship as a string of vessels tries to pour through the portal to safety.
[[Make a run for the wormhole.]]The attackers focus on the Ahai wormhole ship. Your Dolphin is nearly at the wormhole when the swirling purple malestrom turns bright red. Streaks of lightening shoot around it, and your sensors go crazy.
The wormhole collapses. Ships heading for it lose control in the turbulent bends in space time, several tearing apart.
Taya stares at her instruments, and you see what made her face fall. You are nearly out of fuel, and the only places the Dolphin can go are swarming with attacking ships.
[[Keep running.]]
[[Shut down the engines to conserve power.]]Your Dolphin surges forward, letting the moment carry it for hundreds of thousands of kilometers once the engine died. You can't manuever, but you had hoped that someone might catch up with your slow vessel and rescue you.
The only think that catches up with you is a single Hetarek ship. It took hours for it to get you within range, but eventually, it fires.
The Dolphin shakes with each impact. A roar of air tears through the cargo hold, the noise so loud it covers the screams of the people dying inside.
You watch the universe spin around you. Earth. Moon. Earth. Moon.
When you at last lose consciousness, you see the Earth behind a cloud of debris.
THE END.It was a hard decision, but it should have been the right one. Others continue to run away from the Hetarek attackers. You diligently scan through the frequencies, hoping there is someone who can rescue the Dolphin and its cargo of refugees.
But no one is near by. Since you stopped running, you are one of the first in the escaping caravan overrun. You have a brief moment of hope that you've been missed as you watch missiles and lasers streak past you, destroying the ships ahead of you.
Then the engines rupture, sending your shuttle into a violent spin, throwing the human cargo out into space.
Your head cracks against the console in front of you four times before you finally lose consciousness.
THE END."Thanks. You're not the first one to pick up on this. Something is happening, but we don't know what. We're not sure its Sadko and the Ahai aren't being helpful. We need you to keep a look out for anything else that's going on."
[[Continue monitoring the empty space around you.]]After several hours, an alarm from the communications system goes off. There's an incoming message, but it's a wide-area broadcast.
Something has attacked the center of the Solar System, near Earth. The Ahai have called the attackers the "Hetarek," but that means nothing to you.
Reports come in garbled by static, distance, and the time it took for the radio transmissions to cross the Solar System. Some of these panicked messages originated twelve hours before on the other side of the system. Some of these people have been dead for hours.
[[Contact your headquarters again.]]"We haven't forgotten about you. Most of our fleet is taking an Ahai wormhole out of the system. You're very far away from us, but if you can get to the coordinates I'm sending you, there will be a wormhole waiting for you and a few other ships in the area."
[[Head to the coordinates at a full burn.]]In the middle of nowhere, above the ecliptic, days from any planet, you find five other deep-space vessels loitering nervously. Two are Sadko vessels, keeping a distance from the cluster of Corporate ships.
At the appointed time, a wormhole opened. It was a small portal, much smaller than the large ones the Ahai used to send convoys throughout colonized space. One by one, each of the ships passes through. You wait until last, still using your sensors to pick up on any other incoming vessels.
[[Take your turn through the wormhole.]]You are relieved to get through the wormhole, not only because it's safe, but because you see the first signs of other humans since you left the asteroid belt. You didn't realize just how alone you felt until you saw dozens of human spacecraft stretching out in front of you.
That relief is short lived, as you realize the implications. You almost certainly are looking at all that is left of your species.
A large and unique ship, calling herself the //Columbia//, gives you approach vectors for her hanger bay. It won't take long for you to feel as alone crammed amongst the refugees as you felt drifting on the edge of the Solar System in a ship barely larger than a coffin.
THE END."We have no choice. We have to find the //Neva//. I'm the captain, and you're the rookie. You do as I say."
The Captain sets a course to find the //Neva//. Maybe she'll be at the next rendevous.
[[Turn off the radio so you don't have to listen to the Moscva call for help.]]You make the journey to the next rendevous point, where you thankfully find the //Moscva//.
"//Irina// we had to leave the rendevous because an Ephemeris recon vessel was scanning the area. We're glad you've made it but the target convoy is on the way. We won't have time to transfer the weapons to you."
[[Warn the Neva about the Moscva's destruction.]]"That's good information //Irina//. We'll strike the convoy as soon as they arrive in case they're laying a trap for us like they did for the //Moscva//."
[[Wait for the convoy.]]The convoy arrives, and focuses all its attention on //Irina//. After all, //Irina// appears in several "potential" threat databases.
Captain Karinin goads the convoy while the //Neva// pulls into formation behind the Corporate ships.
//Neva// fires the weapons in her cargo hold, including the extra firepower it should have given //Irina//. In a flurry, six of the Corporate convoy ships are destroyed, including two fuel transports, three ships filled with foodstuffs, and a repair vessel.
The convoy's two escorts turn their attention towards the //Neva// and fire, completely disabling her.
The entire engagement lasts only ten minutes. But that's long enough for an Ahai wormhole ship to appear through it's own portal.
[[Human vessels, the Hetarek are attacking! We can help you escape!]]"What's a Hetarek?" Captain Karinin asks.
Something flashes on the sensor board. Ships, strange ships, streaking towards what's left of the convoy.
The Ahai open a wormhole, and the two convoy escorts turn to face the attackers. The rest of the ships, heading towards the wormhole, seem to have forgotten about the //Irina//.
[[Follow the convoy into the wormhole.]]You emerge in orbit around a strange planet, not one of the few colonized by humans outside the Solar System. The only presence you can detect are the four remaining ships from the convoy.
The convoy escorts don't make it through the wormhole, nor does the Ahai ship.
Instead, the Ahai sends a message that they are going to find other survivors, and will return. But hours pass without their return.
You realize that you, along with the other human vessels, are stranded in an alien system without any support or resources. In a moment, the Corporate War has ended in a devestating loss for both parties.
Wondering how long you can survive without help, you scan the remaining convoy ships. //Neva// targeted the most vital ships first, leaving only ships with nothing of use for long-term survival.
You stare at the alien planet, wondering if you're facing you new and permanent home.
THE END.Captain Karinin comes running up to the bridge, yelling for //Irina// to get underway.
"We must be on a list. The inspectors wanted to see our //other// cargo. I took care of them but someone is going to come looking for us. We need to get out of here."
No sooner does //Irina// detach from the station than a call comes over the speaker. "Sadko vessel //Irina//, do not depart the station. Repeat: do //not// depart the station."
[[Comply with instructions.]] Captain Karinin glares at you. "Fine. If we can help them, maybe they can help us. They're Sadko, so they're on our side, whether they know it or not."
[[Set a course for the Moscva.]]You arrive at the location of the transmission. You find debris that easily could have been a Guppy transport like the //Moscva//.
You pick up a life boat drifting through the debris. It's still transmitting its emergency signal, but it's weak.
[["Is anyone still alive out here?"]]"//Irina//, yes, there are still five of us alive. But you need to be careful. They're still out there."
"We would have picked up a Mako or even a Petrel out here. We don't see any Corporate ships for as far as our sensors reach. You'll be safe with us."
[["But they weren't Corporate ships that attacked?"]]
Before you have time to wonder what else could have attacked a huge Sadko vessel like the //Moscva//, the sensors pick up something moving deliberately amongst the debris. Two somethings.
They don't look like any ship you've ever seen, human or Ahai. And they angle towards the //Irina.//
[[Captain, I think we need to get out of here!]]"I think you're right." Karinin says before giving the order for a full burn away from the debris field.
The life boat continues to call for help, even though they warned you about the lurking predators. You switch off the radio.
The strange ships are gaining on you, much faster than you thought possible.
[[Send out a distress signal.]]Even as you send it, you know it will be of little use. There is nothing anywhere near the //Irina// but debris.
One of the strange ships flashes past the viewport, so close you can see the alien design of sweeping, scimitar-like wings. A second ship follows. Both gain distance, and, for a moment, you think you might have a chance.
Then they spin around, facing backwards as they match //Irina//'s trajectory.
Karinin calls out an order, but is cut off.
[[Flashes fill the viewscreen.]]You see nothing but a series of blinding flashes, then it seems like everything starts rushing towards the view screen. Equipment, debris, and people start riding the flow of air towards the holes ripped in the front of //Irina.//
You hold on as long as you can. But eventually you, too, are sucked up by the vacuum of space.
Your skin burns as it freezes, and the air in your lungs tears at your throat as it escapes.
Eventually, you can't tell the blackness of space from the blackness of unconsciousness.
THE END.The data will take hours to fully compile the report and then transmit it to Ephemeris headquarters through the standard communications channels.
[[Take a nap while you wait for further instructions.]] "This is the //Irina//. We've been passing through the asteroid belt on our way to Titan. Our last port of call was Ceres Station and we received a full inspection there."
It takes you several minutes to check on the //Irina//'s story. You are still new to the system and you flip through several menus before you find what you need.
//Irina//'s story matches the data from Ceres Station. She was under a watch, so she was inspected carefully and her timetable shows she couldn't have made any stops before your detected her.
[[Notify the convoy to expect the Irina but you've checked her out.]]
While you were focused on the //Irina//, another ship, the //Neva// appears on your sensors. You were so distracted that you didn't notice the //Neva// until it was dangerously close to the convoy.
You check on the //Neva//'s history and find it clean, but when you look up, she's in a strange position.
Something shoots out of her open cargo hold. Missiles, heading directly for the convoy. The convoy engages in a pitched battle with the //Neva//, who caught them completely unawares.
[[Monitor the conflict and contact Ephemeris.]]Before you get a report from Ephemeris, an Ahai wormhole appears, totally off of any schedule you can access, and a wormhole ship emerges.
"Humans, cease your attack on each other! The Hetarek are coming! We can take you to safety!"
The //Neva// surprised, turns its attention towards the Ahai. She still has missiles left and launches them. The Ahai ship manuevers slowly, and can't avoid the impacts.
[[The wormhole sputters and closes.]]Your sensors go blind as the distortions in space-time become a storm. Some of the convy near what had been the wormhole opening shake violently, losing control and even rupturing.
With your main sensors blind and the sight of a convoy being destroyed, you don't notice more than a dozen strange ships approach from the asteroid belt. Ships that don't appear in any database, human or Ahai.
You watch as the new arrivals fire strange weapons, and most of the convoy goes completely dark, as though a light switch had been turned off. Then explosions flare out from some of the vessels.
You are far enough away to not be targeted immediately and your sensors start working again.
[[Record the data and begin transmitting to Ephemeris.]]The strange ships notice you as soon as you being transmitting the large amounts of data. Four of them turn towards you.
You're flying a Marlin, after all, and try to run. For a moment, it looks like your gaining ground.
Then you see light streak ahead of you, then brust into thousands of fragments.
The shrapnel tears through your ship as physics keeps you moving through it. Equipment around you begins to explode and burn.
It becomes dark, and you hear the tell-tale his of air escaping through holes in the hull.
As the Marlin tears itself apart, you notice that shrapnel tore through you as well, and you watch your blood pour into space as you lose consciousness.
THE END."The First Day"
A Wroth Worlds: Expansion Era Non-Linear Story with 17 Endings
by Matt Thomas
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