Anomaly [Closed] - Printable Version
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Anomaly [Closed] - megs - 05-09-2019
Ya girls are finally IN SPAAACE
is it Star Wars? Is it Star Trek?? Is it mass effect!! WHO KNOWS
RE: Anomaly [Closed] - megs - 05-09-2019
The Grand Rim was still on Julianna's mind a week later.
She had planned on travelling by herself in a shuttle to see the natural wonder before her assignment began. Truth was, she didn't know when she would be returning to Andaar. It was her home planet and she knew that there were too many things she had yet to see. The natural canyon had been close enough to her departure base for her to make an excuse to see it. When her assignment had been moved up a week, she had been devastated and excited. She was eager to begin her mission as an ambassador for the rebellion, but felt like she didn't have enough pieces of home to take with her.
The Rebellion, now the Federated Alliance was a collection of planets in the Zolstra system that had pledged themselves to a new democracy after the defeat of the Galactic Monarchy. The Senate, a collection of representatives from each planet, had chosen Julianna to lead a diplomatic mission in the nearby Canar system to recruit more members.
It was an important job that she didn't feel like she was being given the proper resources for. An old ship with no crew that was piloted by an uptight and completely independent AI. She had never flown with an automated pilot, and certainly not one that had its own agenda. One that had been made very clear to her from the beginning.
Julianna could only wonder, how long would their goals coincide? How long until she lost control of her own ship.
“Owen?” The name she had chosen for the AI, said in the same questioning tone that she had been utilizing since the beginning. As if she wasn’t sure if he was still there, or could hear her or what have you. Unsure of how it...he...functioned. “The last of the supplies have been unloaded. Let the station know we are ready to depart.”
Pushing out of the command chair, Julianna left the bridge and moved towards the back of the ship. Their first mission had been easy enough. Deliver supplies to a waystation between Andaar and Faroh. Faroh was a somewhat neutral industrial planet that had previously been part of the monarchy, supplying armaments and various tech advancements to their armies. With the monarchy trying to regain their power it was difficult to say on which side of the line Faroh would fall. The Federation was attempting to win favor with gifts.
The communication device on her wrist beeped and she fired it to eye level. A holographic HUD lit up and displayed a message of confirmation to her. They were ready to take off.
Julianna looked up from her communicator. Steps halting. “Owen?” That same tone, but this time an actual question followed . “Why is the hatch still open?”
RE: Anomaly [Closed] - saronym - 05-10-2019
“Yes. Ambassador.”
Owen acknowledged her orders before sending the communique she requested. Though he could have vocalized the confirmation, he sent a relay to her wristband instead. His system was otherwise occupied with setting the navigation systems and initiating the launch.
And there was something else…
An irregularity.
The hatch was open.
He was already running system checks.
There was a sizable holostation on the bridge that Julianna had left. There a projection of the exterior of the ship in bluish light slowly rotated. The hatch flashed red: an irregularity. The projection zoomed inward displaying the specs of the hatch and entryway. The hatch electronics panel flashed as he ran a check for glitch or malfunction. The projection changed and shifted as he ran through possible scenarios.
No detectable malfunction or glitch.
On the tail end of her question, he initiated an override command to close the hatch. “I suppose you left it open, Captain.” His electronic voice came through the communicator at her wrist.
After he let his saucy reply settle in, he responded:
“I ran a system check. There was a flux in the hatch release system but the stimulus was undetectable.” He paused and added. “Captain, the station has cleared us for launch. How would you like to proceed?”
RE: Anomaly [Closed] - megs - 05-11-2019
Julianna opened her mouth. Then she closed it. And then, "I didn't- I mean, you-" She stopped again. Not entirely confident in arguing with the disembodied voice that echoed mechanically down the halls of the spaceship. "Guess so," she conceded. Mumbling, she turned her attention back to her communicator, hatch closing behind her as she walked away from it.
She entered the cargo hold to double check that everything had been unloaded, even though she knew she didn't need to. Owen had such a handle on everything that she felt superfluous most of the time. She sighed, looking up from the device on her wrist. Would she even be here if Owen had a chassis? Julianna rubbed the back of her neck self-consciously. Why did the Federation pair them together?
Her watch beeped, but she ignored it. "Uhm, set a course for Kriion Prime," she hated how unsure she sounded when talking to him. Wasn't she supposed to be in charge? "We don't have a new assignment."
RE: Anomaly [Closed] - saronym - 05-14-2019
Owen monitored Julianna's movements as she went to cargo to poke around. There was nothing out of the ordinary. Their supply drop had been fully and successfully unloaded.
“Captain, Kriion Prime is moving away from the last known location of the main Monarchical retreat force.” Owen pointed out this fact as if it adequately expressed his argument against going where she directed. Julianna was well aware that Owen was motivated to pursue his father and his chassis currently in the grasp of the Monarchy.
He nonetheless canceled his previous navigation settings and charted their course according to her instructions. Owen wasn't quite sure he was willing to test outright defiance so early in their working relationship.
The launch from the waystation was uneventful except for yet another anomaly. This time in fuel expenditure.
“Captain, there is a discrepancy between the predicted and actual fuel expenditure on launch.” He informed Julianna of his findings. The holostation on the bridge changed to a projection of the fuel systems each flashing red as Owen ran systems checks on the rocket engines, fuel oxidizers, propulsion systems, and the like.
When the checks were finished the interior lights on the bridge and throughout the ship went red.
RE: Anomaly [Closed] - megs - 05-15-2019
Julianna paused. Looking up towards the ceiling of the cabin, she frowned. She didn’t know if she liked his tone and she didn’t know where to broadcast this displeasure. Even so, she wasn’t sure if he was capable of having a tone. Maybe she was being over-sensitive. “Then set a course for that,” she conceded, once again. “But we’re not leaving Federation Space, until we have a new assignment.”
There. Did that sound like compromise?
She changed her own heading for the bridge. It wasn’t like she a had a ton to do other than sit in her chair and watch the stars slip by at warp speed. Another beep that she ignored. Her watch was a constant scrolling feed of Federation communications between ships doing things much more interesting than she was.
“A discrepancy?” It took her a beat to figure out what this information entailed. She didn’t get a chance to thoroughly sort through her own theories before the change in lights threw the hall into a garish and terrifying hue. “Owen? What’s wrong?”
RE: Anomaly [Closed] - saronym - 05-18-2019
For the third time that morning, Owen was resetting the navigation system. Now he charted a course that would take them to the edge of the Federation territory. He could settle for that. He would be closer to the Monarchy retreat force. There would be more signs of their presence there on the edge. They would be closer, maybe close enough to directly intercept coms.
He doubted that. But maybe.
After launch, the ship tilted noticeably to one side as he arced it towards the hyperspace lanes.
But he altered course again with the new knowledge that something was amiss on board. He wouldn't jump until they settled matters.
“Captain,” he said projecting his voice quietly through her wrist piece. “Draw your blaster pistol. I believe we have a stowaway on board that is thwarting visual detection.”
The ship was turning making large spirals in empty space. As they rounded another spiral, the waystation framed by the distant planet came to view in the windscreen. Other ships were taking off and docking there. Seemingly, business as usual.
RE: Anomaly [Closed] - megs - 05-19-2019
Julianna looked quizzically down at her communicator when Owen's voice filtered through it. She didn't know he could do that. She didn't know why she was surprised that he could. She was so taken aback by this capability that she almost didn't hear his suggestion. Her brow furrowed, and she continued looking at her wrist.
Her blaster?
Her hand went to where her standard issue blaster pistol should have been. It should have been in a holster strapped to her thigh. It was not and her hand grasped empty air. "I don't have my blaster," she whispered to the device as she lifted it closer to her face. It wasn't as if their conversation could be truly confidential. If there was a stowaway like he predicted, whoever it was could be in the proximity at this very moment.
"I'm not sure it's entirely necessary."
RE: Anomaly [Closed] - saronym - 05-23-2019
If he had eyes to roll. Or a face to palm.
His voice came through the communicator that she was now holding closer to her face as they conspired, “You don't have -- you should always --”
It was no time to establish daily norms and routines. There was a situation.
“I will attempt to reveal the stowaway. Captain, brace yourself.”
Without further warning or explanation, the ship lurched on its side suddenly. Whoever was standing on the ship would find it difficult to stay standing. The ship did a full half arc to the other side.
The monitoring systems in the food storage area now revealed a new figure. A heavily suited and masked bipedal humanoid with four arms.
“I have located the intruder.” Owen informed Julianna. He projected the live image of their stowaway on the holostation on the bridge. “Dry food storage holding 2. Recommended course of action: retrieve your blaster. Disarm and take the intruder into your custody for questioning.”
RE: Anomaly [Closed] - megs - 05-25-2019
Julianna only stared down at her communicator as she was lectured by the AI. Unlike Owen she was entirely capable of rolling her eyes, but chose not to do so lest she offend him. She partitioned a considerable amount of her thought processes to not offended the artificial being. The one who currently had control of her entire ship and probably wouldn't take issue to cruising her straight into a sun.
"Brace myself," she questioned back at him. "What do you- oh!" Julianna was surprised to find herself suddenly thrown to the side. She crashed hard against the ship. Her arm pinned awkwardly against her side the wall. Her shriek of surprise turned into a gasp of pain, and she crumpled to her knees. Which did nothing at all to stop her from rolling to the opposite wall as the ship made another sharp maneuver. Like a dog shaking off water.
The ship righted itself and Owen spoke again. She drew her injured arm across her chest and cradled it with her free hand. Even from her sprawled position on the floor she could see the image he was displaying for her. Taking note of the number of arms and the armor she asked, "Is that an Amalthean?" With some effort she pushed herself off of the floor of the ship. Julianna knew that her arm wasn't broken, but it hurt like hell and she was almost positive her blaster would be useless now.
"I hurt my arm," she said. Technically, he hurt her arm but she didn't feel like playing the blame game. Refer to aforementioned trip into the sun. "I'm going to do the parts of your plan that don't involve my blaster."
✨
May'ev vas Naraah, thought she had fashioned the perfect plan. The personal cloaking device she had rigged from an old Monarchy shuttle worked perfectly. She was invisible to organics and to technological scanners. It worked so well that she had been able to steal away just in time on a passenger transport that was leaving from Amalthea to the way station just inside Federation space.
There had been several rebellion ships docked when she arrived. May'ev broke her stealth just long enough to mingle with some of the dock workers. It wasn't hard to blend in, the space station was a go-to pit stop for several different planets, and station workers loved to gossip. She was looking for a Federation ship to sneak on to. She didn't have time to go through the proper channels and get all the right security clearances.
Mostly, because her home planet was recently defected from the Monarchy and the potential of their loyalty to the Federation was in question.
It was also because she just so happened to be Crown Princess and Heir to the Throne of Almathea, and that added a whole new layer of tricky to her current plans.
May'ev had caught wind of a multi-class crew ship at port that only had a captain as far as crew. This was intriguing in itself, but furthermore was that crew came in the form of a tiny human woman, boasting the colors of a Federation ambassador.
Perfect.
Which is how May'ev came to stowaway aboard the Judex-9. However, despite all her tech and her hidden bio-signs, she had not calculated that the ship would have had an AI pilot. This small, missed detail is what had gotten her caught. She couldn't control the fuel expenditure from her added weight, even if it was such a minute detail that only an AI could have noticed.
She scrambled up and off of the floor after being tossed around by the wild motions the ship. Her graceless landing had damaged her device and ruined her sneaking capabilities. Two hands went to her hips, while the other two fiddled with the device. She muttered a curse in her native tongue. Her bio-suit allowed her enhanced senses and she could hear the approach of the captain.
"Come out, slowly," a small, but impressively commanding voice demanded. "I know you're in there," she continued.
Pocketing her ruined device, May'ev followed the captain's instructions. She inched her way out of the storage room with all four arms raised.
"Hello, Ambassador."
RE: Anomaly [Closed] - saronym - 08-14-2019
The A.I. might have felt bad about injuring his captain, however…
“Your shoulder will be fine, Captain. I’ve calculated the force reaction vector with your body weight. It will only be a minor hematoma. Have you heard of R.I.C.E.?” He explained to her the acronym and its implications in treating her minor injury as she picked her way to food storage.
The ship, meanwhile, continued on its course without further disruption. He also maintained visual on the Amalthean.
“It is not behaving aggressively, although it appears agitated. Proceed cautiously.” He warned Julianna into her communicator.
When their intruder greeted his Captain, he intoned overhead, “Amalthean: identify yourself and state your business aboard this ship.”
As they hurtled through space, his scanners picked up blips on the edge of their range that were approaching at a rapid pace.
“Captain…we have incoming.”
RE: Anomaly [Closed] - megs - 08-22-2019
Julianna would have told him to shut up if it would have made a difference. Instead, she let him prattle on about first aid procedures that she already knew as if he had played no part in her injury.
The captain heeded none of his advice and was now face to face with the intruder. She had never met an Amalthean in person. They were a militaristic monarchy that kept to themselves. Especially since their defeat. She was stunned almost speechless. The alien was notably taller than she was, with four slender arms raised in a universal gesture of surrender. She was covered head to toe in a bio-suit meant to keep her protected from literally everything. The helmet was so dark Julianna couldn't see her face, and it distorted her voice slightly when she spoke.
"H-Hello," Julianna responded. Still disarmed by her surprise company. Naturally, Owen was willing to speak up for her.
The visitor put her arms down. Bored with holding them upwards. She made no sudden or suspicious movements. Julianna didn't feel threatened by her.
"My name is May'ev vas Narrah," she explained in that strangely modulated voice. "I come in peace, obviously, as a representative of-"
She was cut off my the announcement of more company. Simultaneously a device on her wrist began flashing a tiny blue light. "Oh-" she lifted the tech up to her field of vision, like one would examine a watch. "I think that might be for me actually."
"Incoming?" Julianna echoed in question. She turned on her heel suddenly and darted back towards the bridge. Her injured arm quickly forgotten. She returned to the command chair, falling into it and quickly activation the holographic console. Owen already had the radar on display; it showed three little red dots moving towards their location at an impressive speed.
"Don't worry about that too much, ambassador."
Jules whipped around to see the Amalthean standing over her shoulder. "Did you do this," she demanded an answer, suddenly suspicious.
"Yes and no." the intruder admitted. "They're coming for me, but just let me handle them. They should be hailing your vid--chat shortly."
She was right. They did just that.
Julianna accepted the hail, and another Amalthean appeared on the video display. They wore the deep red and gold regalia of the monarchy. "Ambassador Julianna Maxiliion," they spoke with a masculine tone. "Surrender the princess or prepare to be boarded. Failure to comply will result in-"
They were cut off, by May'ev dipping into view of the console. "Hiii," she said, drawing out the vowels playfully.
"Princess May'ev what are you-"
"Now, why don't we all just calm down for a second."
RE: Anomaly [Closed] - saronym - 09-18-2019
As the inbound ships hurtled closer towards them, Owen updated the graphic display to show his captain the types of ships that were incoming. The big holographic display on the bridge shifted to make room for ship specifications and identification as Amalthean Monarchy military crafts.
Julianna accepted incoming communication and began the parlay.
The immediately issued threats were factored into Owen’s estimation of Conflict Risk. It was now at High risk and he set the interior cabin lights to a flashing red.
Their stowaway’s contribution to the conversation only served to increase the likelihood of misunderstanding and conflict.
Somehow, they had the Amalthean princess on board….
“Captain, should I prepare for evasion maneuvers or submit to boarding?”
He paused.
“Alternatively, I will prepare an ejection pod for the princess. Their military ships will prioritize retrieving her and our likelihood of escape will increase exponentially by my calculations.”
RE: Anomaly [Closed] - megs - 10-05-2019
"No!" Both women emphasized their disagreement with hurtling the princess into space, simultaneously.
Julianna frowned at the cabin's red lights. She didn't appreciate the mood lighting. It wasn't exactly calming her nerves. She had simulated through dozens and dozens of democratic situations, but none of them would have prepared her for having possibly space-kidnapped a princess. "I think there has been a misunderstanding." She tried to focus on sounding clear and authoritative to distract herself from the lights and her nerves. "The princess has boarded the Judex-9, willingly." She assumed, but how else would she have gotten on?
It was difficult to read her accusers. It wasn't like she could read their expressions. The helmets of the bio-suits had dark masks to filter out light. Even the electronic quality it gave their speech was misleading sometimes. Did they believe her? Why wouldn't they? A very not kidnapped princess was standing next to her and waving pleasantly at the console with two hands.
"The Ambassador has taken me aboard at my request to assist with her diplomatic mission with the Federated Alliance."
"The Amalthean Monarchy has not joined the Federated Alliance," he argued.
"Not yet," May'ev chimed with confidence that Julianna envied. "I'm hoping that my working with the ambassador will help my family see that it is the right thing to do. I've sent them a missive with these details."
There was a tense silence for a few passing moments. Just the respective technical noises of their ships filled the void.
"So you can return to your regular duties," May'ev said cheerfully. "Oh!" she said as if she had forgotten something. "That's an order."
This time even with the mask, it was easy to tell that the general was caught off-guard by the princess' explanation of events. A sigh came through his receiver. He stumbled over his words. "Y-yes, your highness. Loth mar." He ended the call with a typical Amalthean goodbye. Be well. The call cut off and the UI returned to the dark expanse of space.
Julianna spun around in the captain's chair to face their company. "I didn't invite you to anything." She frowned.
May'ev shrugged with all of her arms. "Right. That part was a lie, but I was hoping I could convince you." She lifted one of her hands to her mouth, as if to speak something to Julianna in confidence. "I don't think your ship likes me very much, however."
RE: Anomaly [Closed] - saronym - 10-20-2019
Owen used his whisper function to speak privately to Julianna as the Amalthean spoke over the console to the officer in pursuit of them.
"Captain, you did not make an arrangement with this Amalthean to invite her into your diplomatic mission." He pointed out what was the obvious lie.
His use of that possessive adjective "your" to describe the diplomatic mission was somewhat an oversight on his part. Though he tried to keep his partiality for his own goals hidden, it tended to peak through when he was lazy with choosing his syntax more carefully.
It immediately occurred to him that he should have used the much more neutral article "the."
The diplomatic mission.
That was more appropriate if he wanted to maintain plausible deniability about his own ambivalence towards her mission.
"Captain," he continued his whisper to Julianna even while the Princess was trying to speak. Unbeknown to the Princess, Julianna was forced to listen to both of them at the same time. "Word of the Amalthean Princess aboard our ship will not only increase the inherent risk in the mission but also it could alienate already tenuous political relationships that you are trying to turn towards the Federated Alliance."
Over the general coms, Owen spoke up again after his relative silence. "I am not merely the disembodied voice of this ship. Although, the ship is personified through me, this is not my chassis. I am an artificial intelligence assistant. My chassis was lost and this is my current form." He corrected May'ev in his rather pedantic manner.
The cabin lights shifted from red to a more calming blue. Owen had registered Julianna's agitation at the coloring and shifted it accordingly. Remembering her corporeal needs, he added, "Captain, I will remind you of your injury. You should put ice on your shoulder and administer yourself a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medication. 600 milligrams."