Vesper

[Leo]

Continuing from this log post.

"Entry point located. Detecting module point for Docking Bay. None detected. Spacewalk will be required to access vessel."

"Hmmm." Zylar said stroking his beard. "No docking module. That'll be a bit tricky to get inside." he looked down in dismay at his Vac suit. "Better hope to whatever deity is out there that I don't accidentally tear the suit. Or else I'm gonna be sucking vacuum and this battleship, or whatever it is, won't be the only wreck out here."

He piloted the Borderworlds Transport into the area indicated by the scanners and carefully sat it down on the platform reserved for a docking module. He checked his suit one last time and with a pressurized hiss, equipped the helmet.

"Albus Lepus" he said indicating for the ships computer. "Power down to minimal levels, power off life support and resume on my return."

"Affirmative." came the crisp reply of the assistant AI. He heard the ship power down and the lights shut off shortly after.

"That should help save power if I need to keep searching this system for a way home. No sense using power when I'm not even on board. Here's to hoping there's some space charts in here or something that I can use to find my way back."

Zylar waited until the airlock cycled and stepped out on to the platform of the ship, his Vac suit mag boots making a "whomp" sound with every step he took. He stood outside for a moment simply staring around at the gargantuan size of the module port.

"Big damn ship." he mumbled under his breath. "Need to find an entry point and see if I can figure out the make and model. Will help me navigate once I get inside."

"If it's even a human ship." he thought to himself and shivered.

"Calm down Zylar." he said as he walked towards what looked an an access port. "Don't psych yourself out just yet. You only just got here."

He thought back to the training he'd gone through in the Navy. Spacewalks weren't ever advised unless absolutely required for either ship repair or rescue. He figured this was as close to a rescue as he could get, at least he'd be rescuing himself.

He arrived at the access port and inspected it.

"Mmm. Looks like it might be Zoner architecture." he mused to himself "Fairly old but at least I can assume this is a human ship."

He reached out and grabbed hold of the manual release lever but it refused the budge after all the years being exposed to space without any maintenance.

"Well, this isn't gonna work." he said looking around. "Still got about three hours of air left in the tanks. I could go get a cutter and just cut through the access panel to get inside but that'd take too long..." he glanced at his transport parked a few hundred meters away. "Ah, I've got an idea...it's a fairly stupid idea but it's all I've got at the moment."

The idea required him going back to the transport, which he did. The ship powered on as he approached. He climbed inside and brought it closer to the access hatch.

"No shields, no problem." he said and fired a single burst from the turrets on the ship. There was slight blowback as the transport was pushed backwards away from the impact. When the dust, or whatever it was outside, cleared--the door remained unbroken but it did seem to be a little less corroded by the exposure to space. He fired a few more times for good measure and sat the transport back down on the deck.

"Albus, maintain power."

"Affirmative." replied the AI. He climbed back out of the ship and walked back towards the door.

The hatch was undamaged. A testament to Zoner engineering. He pulled the lever again for the manual release and, this time, it slowly began moving. It felt like he was pulling an entire planet as the lever slowly began to release. The door groaned in protest, being opened for the first time in who knows how long. A few minutes later, the door was open wide enough for him to step through.

"Christ." he said panting. "This had better be worth it." he grumbled. He shined the light on the arm of his Vac suit into the partially opened door. "I think I'll take a short break in the transport before going in, opening that door really took it out of me."

He rested for a few moments in the transport, taking a break from the Vac suit, recharging it with oxygen, and enjoying a quick bite to eat from his MRE.

"Wonder how this thing got out here." he said musing to himself. "Maybe it ran into the same...whatever it was that I did. If that's the case it doesn't bode very well for me getting home."

Zylar had never even considered that he could get thrown outside of Sirius by a Jumphole. Hell, he could be on the other side of the Galaxy for all he knew. Ageira did always say to avoid contact with Jumpholes but he figured that was just them trying to maintain traffic through their Jump Gates.

"Got egg on my face." he said answering his thoughts as he took the last bite of his food. "Guess there's nothing doing but to get out and see what we're working with here."

He cycled the air lock and jumped out of his ship onto the platform below. The mag boots pulled him towards the deck with a loud "whomp" and he proceeded inside the ship. As he walked down the initial hallway, he was amazed at how clean everything was inside considering how long the ship had been exposed to vacuum. Yet another testament to Zoner engineering.

"Should get a ship or two from them." he commented to himself. He made it to a junction point and there was an old map on the wall. "A non-digital map? How old is this girl? Let's see...Nephilim Class...Zoner Colony Ship. Huh. That'd explain what it's doing out here and the massive size too. They might've been trying to start a colony but got stuck in this ice field maybe?"

He considered his surroundings and then a thought raced through his mind.

"Colony ships have built in jump drives. I don't have coordinates though and risking a blind jump is...well...stupid. Could end up in a planet or star." he mused to himself for a moment and shrugged "Better than starving to death I suppose. Probably quicker too. Let's see...where's the command deck..."

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You fear oblivion. Yet you forget. The universe remembers every atom of your being. Even dust hums your name in the dark.

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Starlight Research Consortium | The Banished Legion | Astral
[OOC]Junker Gameplay Loop Suggestion | [OOC]Boneyard Mining Suggestion