Mission Intro:
2381/02/09
A large group Field agents of the COMPRESSION SPACE TRANSPORT (CST) are summoned to Seattle Earth for a screening for a possible hazardous duty mission (read lots of Danger & Lots of pay). Four agents are selected after a few days screening and put on a Wormhole train to New Costa, a megacity (population 1 billion) that stretches for 400 miles along the coast and up to 300 miles inland on the planet AUGUSTA.
Terrorists wearing T Shirts with the “Guardians of Selfhood” Logo and shouting “Death to the Star flayer” attempt to kill the four filed agents on the train. The Four CST Operatives survive the attack and kill the terrorists. After one of the agents who was injured in the attack recovered enough to regain consciousness at the New Costa central hospital, two executives from CST; Andrew Durmen and Nigel Sheeldon (one of the CST Founders) take the agents to a CST warehouse to brief them on their mission.
THE MISSION:
Sheeldon and Durmen are preparing for a vote in the Commonwealth Senate on sending a “Starship” to the “Dyson Pair”. They need definitive answers on the nature of the Marie Cleste; the alien ark ship found on Far Away and, as the Guardians of selfhood claim, the origin of the Star flyer alien. The main backers of the Marie Celeste Research Institute are the Halgarth family. After about 170 years of study it has been determined that the Marie Celeste had a top speed of 0.72 light speed and came from the general direction of the Dyson Pair. A flare was triggered in Far Away's star to send a message back in that direction has yet to be deciphered. The interior of the Marie Celeste contains tanks that held water and a type of monocellular algae. The light spectrum wasn't designed to emulate that of the aliens’ home star, it was simply multi-spectrum. The institute claims that the ship appears to have been empty and on autopilot when it crashed. What happened to the alien crew is a mystery.
The Guardians of selfhood believe otherwise. They preach that there was a survivor and that it has enslaved the people at the institute and has since left the planet to mentally enslave many of the members of the Commonwealth government. The enigmatic alien that is influencing the human race is believed by the Guardians to be planning our eventual doom.
All of this has been the founder of conspiracy theories and violence on Far Way as the leader of the Guardians; Bradley Johansson wages his war on the Marie Celeste Research Institute and its allies across the Commonwealth. It had been largely ignored by the Commonwealth Senate until The Envelopment of the Dyson Pair. That has changed everything. Instead of waiting a thousand years for the gradual extension of Human expansion to reach out to Worm Hole range of the Dyson Pair, the Senate is deciding if it should build the first ever Star Ship and visit the twin Stars to see what is going on. The SI has made its interest know by making this observation; one of two things is happening here:
1. It’s a defensive measure by the inhabitants. Otherwise why not just do a few Niven Rings, which are much more efficient. If so, what are they defending themselves from?
2. It’s a Pair of Dyson Spheres are Prisons. If so why are they imprisoned? Who imprisoned them?
2381/02/23
The Field agents investigate "Far Away" and then return to Augusta. One of the operatives (Jason, an Infolife) is behaving "off" however after their visit to the Marie Celeste Research Institute.
The vote in the Commonwealth Senate on sending a “Starship” to the “Dyson Pair” passes. A committee is set up to oversee the project and decides on building the ship at a CST facility on the Edge of Phase III space near the Dyson Pair.
2381/03/09
The design work is completed quickly on the new Star Ship, dubbed "The Second Chance" ( Mostly be using already existing conjectural designs and off the shelf tech) Construction on the actual ship beings in earnest. The craft should only take a few weeks to build. A project leader and captain of the ship is selected by the committee and crew selection is started.
The Field agents next target for investigation is.... HIGH ANGEL the sapient Alien Star Ship parked over NEW WESSEX in Phase III Space.
2381/03/16
The Field agents foil a plot to destroy the "Second Chance" by the "Guardians of Selfhood". Jason is destroyed in the process and is re-lifed the next day. He has no remory of events before the mission started because they were too busy to make back ups. The Field agents are instant Common Galactic Common Wealth Heroes and as a reward (partly as publicity) they are given a berth on Second chance for its flight to the DYSON PAIR. After a quick 6 week crash course in Space Exploration the The Field agents and the Second Chance leaves for the DYSON PAIR.
2381/04/30
After a quick 6 week crash course in Space Exploration the The Field agents and the Second Chance leaves for the DYSON PAIR.
2381/09/06
The 129 days and 774 Light Years Later...
They reach "Dyson A" and begin exploring the edge of the giant 30AU Diameter Force Bubble. The Force Bubble is impervious to Worm Holes.
30 days into there cruise around the Force Bubble's equator, the GCW Second Chance finds the "Dark Fortress" and 50k km diameter space station imbedded into the Force Bubble.
The Second Chance examines the Dark Fortress for 20 days. They find its hollow and with an opening on the top But electromagnetic warping energy fields make travel through it impossible even for a probe. The Ship continues its trip arround the Equator.
2 days later the Force Bubble around Dyson A drops and a strange collection of mechs attempt to take over the ship. 30 crew are lost but they regain control of the ship.
With the Force Bubble removed the Second Chance can observe the Dyson A system. Its a FULLY developed Kardashev One society. Over 100k fusion torch space ships are observed and several of the planets are 100% "Urbanized". No Worm hole signatures are detected. While hundreds of ships head in the direction of the Dark Fortress, the Second Chance seems to have gone unnoticed. No forms of recognizable EMP communications traffic is detected either.
A small "seemingly" abandoned space station duded the "Watchtower" by the Ship's officers, ( and called the "Skullspine" by the crew) is found on the edge of the system and the Second Chance jumps over to 10 km of it to send over a few work pods to get information on the natives. While investigating the station, the natives suddenly take notice of the Second Chance's presence and over one thousand space craft begin vertoring in at accelerations of close to 9 Gs. The astronomer Dudley Moore and another scientist is separated from the rest of the landing party and has to be left behind as the Second Chance barely jumps in time to escape certain destruction from waves of incoming missiles. The Second chance begins its trip home to warn the Galactic Common Wealth.
2382/03/07
The Second Chance returns to Anshun in the Galactic Common Wealth...
The CST restocked the Second Chance in 7 days and sent it right back to Dyson A, now called Pandora.
The Second Chance arrived 130 days later and are greeted by the lost astronomer Dudley's voice. The denizens of Pandora called the "Primes" have build a gigantic Worm Hole Gate (called there after "Hell's Gate") near one of their gas giants. A dozen space ships come racing towards the Second Chance. The crew of the Second Chance call the promes bluff and realize Dudly is actually dead when is "salved memory stack" starts screaming to run for it. The Second Chance does and returns to The Galactic Common Wealth.
2382/11/21
The Second Chance arrived 130 days later at Anshun. The feild agents disembark and are Worm Hole trained to Wessex where they are debriefed for several days until they are released the Monday before Thanksgiving.
2382/11/25
Within minutes of checking into their Hotel suite the Primes attack 24 star systems in the Beta Octant of the Human Galactic Common Wealth. The Agents spend the next 6 days saving Wessex. The other 23 star system are not as lucky. TO BE CONTINUED......
The Lost 23: The first planets to be attacked and lost to the Pandora Primes. Wessex was also attacked but the Primes were fought off and lost their bid to take over the planet. Some of the planets that were lost are Anshun, Balkash, Balya, Belembe, Elan, Kozani, Martaban, Molina, Nattavaara, Olivenza, Pomona, Samar, Sligo and Whalton.