Lost Connection

[Inferno]

. . . . .The Sentinel streaks through the upper atmosphere of Planet Gammu. Its sensors haven't picked up any signals from the surface or anything in orbit.

::<statement> [Sentinel] "Phi-34" {transmit} -> [units] -> [local_proximity]::

. . . . .No response, likely a consequence of the damaged relay. The unit passes through the cloud layer, moving to a maintenance platform spotted during re-entry. There, the drone's relay can be repaired, and the connection to the PRIME Consensus will be restored. Only eight seconds until the unit can make visual contact with the platform. Its engines begin to slow the drone down, dropping from its supersonic flight speed.

. . . . .The maintenance platform was dark, and no mechanical movements were seen. On several landing cradles, Sentinels and a single Harvester were motionless. Like frozen in time, their bodies partially disassembled by the automated maintenance arms, as still as the machines they had been repairing. A thin layer of snow wisped along the ground, through the cradles, and over the machines. The inactive machines, the approaching Sentinel computed, must be inactive to save resources. It is likely there has not been the priority to keep them active, or their damage is too sufficient to repair with the resources on hand. The lone active unit silently nested itself unto an empty cradle, and waited for the cradle to physically connect to the drone, and systems to establish a handshake with the damaged drone.

::<statement> [Sentinel] "Phi-34" {request} [maintenance_platform] -> {repair} [relay_damage]::

. . . . .Thirty minutes passed in near silence. The only sound came from the icy breeze as it whipped around the drone and through the cradles. The Sentinel waited. Forty-five minutes. The maintenance cradle should automatically connect to the unit, but has yet to do so. A hour passes. A thin layer of snow was landing and subsequently melting on the still-warm hull of the drone.

. . . . .The AI ponders this situation, as much as it could have. The station must be nonfunctional. This was the only site with Sentinel cradles open, so to be repaired, the drone must find another station. The relay outposts had maintenance bays, namely Relay 1 - Primus Outpost. The distance was at least a week's travel, through uncertain space. However, the Sentinel's hull was sturdy and it's emitters were functional, so making the trip wouldn't be overly dangerous. The drone lifted off from the cradle, disconnecting from the icy platform to fly once more.