Somethings Amiss
Posted on Wed Aug 9th, 2017 @ 11:17pm by Captain Liarra Von & Colonel S'er'in'e
Mission:
What Lies Beneath
Location: Outskirts of 332 controlled space.
Another day, another patrol, Lynsi Mason thought to herself. While she certainly didn't seek out danger, there had been a distinct lack of excitement over the last several weeks. Station- and plant-bound traffic moved through her patrol space without any major incidents. Even the ships that did have to be detained did so without much fuss, assuming one didn't count complaints and threats to speak to the station commander as fuss. None of those searches had turned up anything, and so the whole ordeal turned out to be little more than an inconvenience. Part of her was wishing for something, anything, a little out of the ordinary to spur some excitement.
Then again, there were times that she took the slow days for granted. Sure, she had her wingmen and flight ops in her ear throughout the flight, and sometimes (often) the chatter would turn to gossip about the station or her residents. Once the conversation even strayed towards gossip about Colonel S'er'in'e and his mate, though that conversation was shut down surprisingly fast. And Blaze wouldn't dare argue with a superior officer, especially when said superior was over seven feet tall and had claws. In any case, her time flying her bird was time away from the commotion and bustle of the station.
Today had started out as one of those routine, boring, days, but was about to get a lot more interesting. As her flight of Claymores neared the outer marker, a proximity alarm went off in their cabins. Ensign Veillon had been in mid-sentence when her attention was diverted. "Blaze, I'm picking up something on sensors, bearing 283 mark 354, about 100,000 kilometers from here."
"Copy that, Firefly. Can you identify?" Mason replied.
"Negative, Blaze. It looks like it could be a ship, but I'm not picking up any power signatures."
Lynsi adjusted her flight path to intercept. "Then let's go take a look. Firefly, you're with me. Rio, Jinjo, stay close to the marker. If it's a trap, I don't want all of us to fall into it. Keep an eye out for other signals." Th'Kerria and Wynn acknowledged and moved to a covering patrol, while Mason and Veillon increased their throttle.
Before long the pair of fighters found the source of the sensor blip. In the darkness of space it was difficult to tell what it was, but Blaze activated her spotlight and trained it on the dark object. The ship was of unknown origin, but the presence of what appeared to be cargo pods of some sort suggested that it was a freighter. It was difficult to say if the ship had any identifying marks due to the lack of external self-illumination. Blaze approached the ship carefully. "You're definitely right about no power. Thermal scanners are picking up some pockets of heat, but nothing strong enough to suggest a form of power generation. What weapons?"
Firefly shook her head, though Lynsi had no way to see it. "Negative, Blaze. If this thing is armed, it's not any kind of armament that I've ever seen."
"Well, it doesn't appear to have been in a fight. I don't see anything that looks like battle damage. What about lifesigns?" Blaze asked.
"I'm picking up very faint signals, but I'm having a hard time penetrating the hull with sensors. It could be humanoid, but it could just as easily be something microbial."
By triangulating their position relative to the station, and measuring the rate at which the derelict was moving away from them, Lynsi was able to come up with a reasonable approximation of the ship's speed. "Well, whoever is or was on this ship, they weren't planning to go anywhere fast. They're drifting at full impulse speed, at best. I guess all we can do now is knock and see if anybody is home." Blaze reached over to her communication controls and issued a general hail towards the ship. There didn't seem to be any change in the ship's status. She hailed them again with similar results.
"Hold on a second. I might have found something," Firefly added quickly. "It looks like there are several open airlocks. It may not be a complete vacuum if we're picking up lifesigns, but that could help explain why it's so quiet."
"I'm going to call this in," Blaze stated to the rest of her flight. "This is just too weird." She keyed in the commands to contact flight operations. "Command, Blaze. We've found a derelict ship that has drifted into sector space. Have you confirmed our position?"
"Blaze, Shadow. I have the position on station sensors." S'er'in'e observed from Flight Command.
"We've detected faint lifesigns, but they're not answering our hails. Requesting further instructions."
"Blaze, secure the area, close holding pattern. I will speak with the Captain about having the vessel towed to a holding point." S'er'in'e replied. "S'er'in'e to Captain Von, one of my pilots has detected and confirmed the location of a vessel drifting, faint lifesigns though cause for situation unknown. Is it possible to send a vessel to tow?"
Von took the message from her office. "Von here. What's the condition of the vessel? Is it heavily damaged?"
Lynsi, having been included in the communication link, chimed in to answer that one. "Lt. Mason here, Captain. I don't see any signs of damage. It appears to be intact, but the airlocks appear to have been blown."
"I'll have a tug bring it in," Von answered. "But I want us to be cautious. Keep the fighters close to escort them in."
"Blaze, Shadow. Secure the area, await tug retrieval vessels and escort all to the barn." S'er'in'e replied as he relayed the orders to his pilots.
"Aye, sir," Blaze acknowledged before closing the channel.
Von stood up from her desk and made her way out into the station's main operations center. At the situation table in the center of the room sat Commander Luciano. "Commander, our fighters have found a derelict ship with faint lifesigns. Let's bring it in for a closer look. Send out a tug and have the marines prep a boarding party."
Leonardo relayed the instructions, within moments the tugs were in the way to Blaze and her discovery.
It didn't take long for the tug to bring in lifeless vessel into a secure zone for holding. Civilian ships were kept clear of this zone. The fighters remained on station in a protective ring around it. All that was needed now was an away team to go over and investigate. "Blaze, Shadow. Hold position, maintain exclusion zone around the vessel. Nobody to near the vessel without command authority confirm?"
"Copy that, Shadow," Mason replied. She pulled her fighter into a defensive position above the freighter. "Rio, Jinjo, Firefly. Establish a perimeter and shut down any civilian traffic approaching this position." Her wingmen confirmed their orders while Blaze drifted into her thoughts. She had a feeling that today was about to get a lot more interesting.
Captain Liarra Von
Commanding Officer
Starbase 332
Lt. Colonel S'er'in'e
Commanding Officer
Starbase Air Wing SVW-17
Lieutenant Lynsi Mason [P: Von]
Squadron Leader
V/F-37 "Claymores"
