Remnants of a Daydream

[axisdeus]

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EPISODE ONE

Conclusion - „...Ex Machina”

Each new today brings a new tomorrow,
So do not fear failure, but rather fear not trying.

Sakir'har was running again, all systems operational. Truth be told, not much had to be done on board, apart from re-routing most of the systems that were previously run through TAVIA interface so that they can again be manually controlled. That and the broken engine nacelle had to be repaired, some of the plating had been seriously damaged in the explosion that left the gunship adrift in Sigma 13. As it happens, whoever decided to blow out the engine knew what he was doing. The vessel would have been stranded, but no serious damage came to be to the ship itself. Even more puzzling is the way it had been sent to drift, which meant that eventually, the vessel would have reached a stable orbit, intersecting many of the paths O'Rhu. Somebody wanted this vessel to be found. Talfryn was puzzled, and it can be safe to say that all were. This, in itself, would have been reason enough for this to become some sort of a legend, but the puzzle does not stop here. The tech guys did confirmed the fact a copy of TAVIA was on-board, complete with functionality and a database. For the untrained eye, this would look and feel as the real TAVIA. and the fact that it was integrated into almost all aspects of the vessel is truly intriguing.

Talfryn remembers even now the day Orack announced TAVIA, as the one asset that would make his dream possible - an O'Rhu base of operations in the middle of Omicron Mu, run by a skeleton crew of just a few hundred, all this possible with the help of TAVIA - Thabit's Autonomous Virtual Intelligence Assistant. Orack believed this was the the one missing puzzle piece for transforming O'Rhu from just another Cell in the secondary Fleet, to the lean fighting force that it came to be known and appreciated as. He knew about Orack's plan to further integrate the interface as an Assistant for O'Rhu's assets too, but that, as far as he knew, was long from even being possible. All that was possible at the time was just having TAVIA on a subspace link, via CONNECT, O'Rhu's secure communication system. It was real time assistance, but never integrated with the vessels, nothing like this, No ability to run the vessels, and in the absence of a stable comm-link, there would be no TAVIA, no assistance what so ever. And the fact the tech guys found this TAVIA to have been paired via a dedicated link with presumable another instance of TAVIA? Talfryn, Lafferentz and the others, all tried to make heads and tails of this.

Even more strange, the surprises did not stop here. All gathered on board Sakir'har and all were trying to find more clues about the fate of Orack, O'Rhu Cell, the Rahotep. And then it happened. Lafferentz's presence was detected by TAVIA, and the previously locked out instance came online. Caytlin's presence once the vessel had been found, it seems has forced the ship to lock out, only to be activated now. "But why Lafferentz...?" Talfryn was still puzzled by this, but content with the fact he had a new trail to follow. The logs still intact contained a small transmission by Orack himself, dated a couple of years ago, asking in a rather urgent manner the help of Lafferentz, Paige and himself. They were to meet Orack in Omega-58, that dreaded system. The call asked for urgency and secrecy. It was clear Orack was onto something, and by the looks of things, something big. Why not call the help of O'Rhu or even Overwatch, why only a small strike force made up of vessels commanded by these three? Even stranger is that it called for just these three individuals. Apart from Paige, which was in command of one of the Cell's Osiris at the time, the other two were just to arrive there in small crafts. Fate has it that now, both him and Lafferentz have received the message, but so late. Of Paige's whereabouts none of them knew nothing. Maybe Paige got the message and met Orack there...

"Two years....almost two years." Talfryn found himself repeating since the finding. A number of scenarios were running through his head, all leading in the end at the same two questions: what was Orack doing in Omega-58? and what has happened to him and the Rahotep? The thought of Orack still alive was also haunting him, but he tried to not let this cloud his judgment. At this point, Talfryn already formulated a plan, and it involved moving into the vicinity of Omega-58. Having in mind Caitlyn's connections with the Junkers, the idea of staging their operations from Omega-55 seemed a good one. This time, luck was on their side, as Caitlyn's uncle was living on the small outpost in Omega-55, Bornholm Depot. As Caitlyn put it, the debris field surrounding it would provide the necessary cover for the small action group, and the remoteness of the station would mean the chance of unwanted guests would be small. Talfryn took the decision to keep this in secrecy from the Overwatch, part for not begin too comfortable with them, in general, but the major part being that nobody knew what happened to O'Rhu, and he won't risk their interference now. After all, Overwatch seems to have forgotten of his inquiry some months ago, most likely that desk jokey filed the request under false claims and marked it as being resolved - a blessing in disguise in the end.

"That reminds me..."Talfryn moved to his desk and opened a line to the hangar. "Have the fighter wing prepared, I'll have Zahir break in basic operations myself." He left from his desk and moved to the porthole, thinking of this rag-tag team that was taking shape, and especially at the new additions, mister Lykos Zahir, a man that seems to be where trouble is, and TAVIA, able to ease the manning requirements on board the gunboat Sakir'har and a valuable bundle of information.

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